


To Heal A Sickness.

by Sweets_Thief



Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works, The Hobbit (2012), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Epic!Kili, Gen, No Slash, Sick!Fili, Worried!Dis, Worried!Thorin, no Durincest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-09
Updated: 2013-03-09
Packaged: 2017-12-04 18:35:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 37,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/713765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sweets_Thief/pseuds/Sweets_Thief
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fili is sick and nothing seems to be curing him. At only 50 no one is convinced he will survive. Kili makes the decision to leave Ered Luin, despite Fili's condition, to find a cure for him in the wide world of Middle Earth. He is determined to do this because if there is one thing he cannot afford to lose from his life, it's his best friend and brother.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Off To Find A Cure

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah I jumped on the Hobbit fanfiction bandwagon after seeing the film, though I love the book as well, and even though Bofur is my favourite dwarf I had a big idea for a Fili/Kili fic. No slash, just fluff and brotherly love. Loads of fanfics I've read are protective!Fili and hurt!Kili, and I had an idea for hurt/sick!Fili and protective!Kili before the events of the Hobbit when Fili is 50 and Kili is 45.
> 
> The entire world of Middle Earth and characters belong to J.R.R. Tolkien.
> 
> Rate and Review welcome, but no flames please.

### Off To Find A Cure.

Kili stayed silent, grasping his brother's hand tightly as Fili tossed and turned on his bed in their shared room. He could not remember a day when Fili had not been in the grip of a terrible illness even though he knew that his brother had not always been sick. It was hard to imagine Fili as he had been when he had been healthy, cheeks slightly flushed, hair combed and neatly braided, beard and moustache kept tidy. He had had strength back then, muscles from helping their uncle in the forge, and Kili knew his older brother had been skilled where strength and careful hands were needed. Now, now he lay in his bed all day, eyes closed, tossing and turning fiercely, continuously, sweating and shaking, sometimes moaning, sometimes quiet. His skin was pale, his body thin. What little they managed to get him to eat was usually thrown back up, and when he did manage to keep it down it seemed to cause him pain. Having kept a near constant vigil next to his brother's bed, waiting for the day when he started to get better, Kili had made a decision to do something more active to help his brother.

Dis and Thorin were downstairs, discussing the treatments they had not yet tried for Fili, completely distracted. They did not notice Kili sneak by them, quieter on his feet than a dwarf should be, heading to the kitchen. He knew that his family only just had enough food to eat, but he would need at least a little bit of food before he started his journey and for that he would have to do something more drastic than steal it from his own family. In the kitchen there stood a statue that had been carved in Erebor by the hand of Thrain himself, Kili's grandfather. It was prised above any other trinket in the house but Kili knew there were some in the markets close to Ered Luin who would pay a pretty price to own it. _This is for Fili_ , the young dwarf reminded himself as he picked up the statue and stealthily exited the house. It was dark outside, no time for him to be wandering around alone, but the people Kili wanted to see were in the marketplaces at night, pawning off stolen goods and swapping items with each other.

There was nobody in Kili's path as he walked, quickly, towards his destination. Dis would soon be heading upstairs to check on Fili and if Kili was not next to his brother when she did it would arose suspicions. He had to be quick. A sword sliced through the air in front of him and stopped just in front of his neck. Kili had good reflexes, quick ears and eyes and had heard it coming, stopping just before the sword appeared out of the darkness.

"What are you doing around here boy? The markets are no place for someone so young at night," A gruff voice hissed.

Kili did not flinch. He could see a small pool of candlelight in front of him, and the shadows of figures stood there waiting for his answer. Pushing the blade aside confidently, though he bore no weapons himself, he stepped into the light, revealing who he was to the men assembled there. Most of the regular sellers of the markets knew who he was and it showed in the faces of the men gathered there. Thorin had warned Kili to keep away from the men and just do dealings with other dwarves if necessary, he had been warned to only speak to the men if the need was dire and Kili was sure this counted as a dire need.

"It's Thorin's lad isn't it? Used to always be around here with his brother," the man who had the blade laughed. "It's been a while since we saw you lad, where've you been?"

"Family emergency," Kili replied shortly. He did not trust these men as far as he could throw them and though he wasn't sure Kili did not think he could throw them especially far. "I've come to offer you this," He stated, holding up the statue.

The men gathered there held their breath collectively as they stared at the statue. They had seen it only once before when Kili had stolen it as a child of five and brought it into the marketplace to ask Thorin, who had been trading at the time, what it meant. Since that day these men, who gambled and bargained in the night and stole during the day, had wanted the statue more than anything else.

"Your uncle made it clear that if we ever came into possession of that statue he would kill us immediately," Another man spoke angrily, but he could not keep the awe out of his voice.

"Only if you stole it, not if you bought it. I have others who would pay a lot of money for it, so either make me an offer or-." Kili snapped.

"I'll give you all this," One man cried and brought forward the bag he had on his shoulders. Inside there was a lot of food, including salted meats, bread, cheese, apples and other things Kili couldn't see. There were also two quivers in there, one stuffed with arrows, the other half full, a bedroll and blankets. If Kili hadn't known better he'd have assumed this man had the power to see into the future and had predicted the journey he was about to undergo some time ago and had prepared all this just for him. The other men probably had other offers but Kili had not expected to get a lot of what he needed in one go so he agreed to the first offer and, rather reluctantly, handed over the statue. No more words passed from the men to the dwarf, they were all intent on getting the statue off the winning man, so Kili turned and left, running back to his house as quickly as he could.

Luck seemed to with him tonight as he made it back in time to store the bag he had got under Fili's bed, get his breath back and take up his place of watch again before Dis entered the room. Thorin was behind her and when he looked at Kili he saw his cheeks slightly flushed and narrowed his eyes.

"Kili you need to get some sleep," Dis said gently, "Fili will still be here in the morning."

"I want to be awake in case he wakes up in the night," Kili stated firmly. This exchange of words had become a ritual for mother and son. Dis did not push Kili after his first denial of needing sleep, merely kissed his forehead, kissed Fili's forehead and left the room to go to bed herself and cry herself to sleep thinking that her eldest son was going to die. Thorin did not leave with Dis though, as he normally did. He crossed the room to stand in front of Kili and placed a hand on his forehead, then his cheeks.

"Uncle Thorin?" Kili said questioningly.

"You're looking a bit flushed Kili, are you getting ill as well?" Thorin inquired, his hand lingering on Kili's cheek. His nephew did not feel feverish, no, he felt like he had just been running hard.

"I was just crying before uncle, my cheeks get all red and puffy when I do, you know that," Kili lied with a short, forced laugh. Thorin bundled his nephew into his arms when he spoke those words and Kili had to hold back real tears as he did, clinging to the back of Thorin's fur coat tightly.

"It'll be alright Kili, Fili will pull through this, you'll see." The dwarven heir to Erebor stated quietly. Kili merely nodded, knowing if he spoke he would cry. He could not cry anymore. He had made up his mind to stop crying and do something to help Fili, so he would not start crying now.  
"Get some sleep. Your mother is worried about you, please help her burden." Thorin ordered, pulling out of the hug and heading for the door. Kili nodded. He would sleep tonight because tomorrow night he was leaving Ered Luin to search for somebody, or something, to help Fili.

/

The next day Kili spent most of his time out of the house, much to the surprise of Dis, Thorin and those dwarves that were close to their family and knew what was happening. Though he did not go around with his usually cheerful air and would not smile at anyone, many dwarves of Ered Luin had not seen Kili, or Fili, for months, and many had assumed them dead. Kili did not stop to talk to anyone. He was on a mission and no one was going to stop him. Oin and Gloin's house was empty, as Kili had expected it to be, but it was attached to a forge they worked in from time to time, so he had to be quiet so he did attract unwanted attention. Routing through their house as quickly as possible Kili found what he was looking for, Oin's book on herbs and medicinal plants. He planned to take it with him, hoping Oin would not notice before he had disappeared in the night.

Smuggling the book around in a large fur coat he owned Kili went next to the practise fields to make sure his archery skills were honed enough for him to be able to protect himself. Kili may have been young and may have never travelled in the wild before but he knew the world was fraught with danger and he may need to protect himself, and for that he needed his archery skills. Smiling wryly Kili contemplated on how proud his mother and uncle probably would be of him for spending the time to plan something he was about to undertake instead of just rushing headlong into it. Of course they would be angry at him for even thinking of leaving Ered Luin alone, but if he were older and allowed to leave alone then they would be proud. Kili had never felt so excited before, but there was an overhanging dread that made his excitement murky. What if Fili died while he was travelling trying to find a cure? Kili knew there was no cure for death and he would want to be by Fili's side if that were to happen to his brother. According to his mother Fili had taken a turn for the worse during the night while Kili had been sleeping and the way his brother looked so vulnerable had almost been enough to convince Kili not to go, to stay by his side and hold his hand. Instead he had used the emotions the sight had instilled in him to harden himself against the journey he was going to make, to save his brother.

The day passed slowly, even though Kili tried to keep himself busy to make it go quicker. He ended up spending five hours of the day lying on his own bed, pushed up against Fili's, holding his brother's hand and telling him of his plans quietly. Kili didn't mind doing that, keeping his brother company while he was sick.

"You can't leave me," Fili's hoarse voice whispered. Kili started. He had been muttering to himself about what path he should take and how he should probably try and take a map of Middle Earth so he knew where he was going when Fili had awoken, unknown to him.

"Fili!" He cried quietly. Fili winced at the noise regardless, his head spinning. Kili sobered a little when he saw the tears in Fili's eyes. His brother was quite dehydrated so he did not have many tears to cry, but the few that Kili saw hurt him.

"You can't go Kili," Fili said again, "You're too young."

"I have to Fili. I have to try and find some herbs and medicinal plants that mother and Thorin haven't been able to find and bring here for you." Kili replied softly, stroking Fili's sweat soaked hair.

"I need you here with me brother," Fili whispered, coughing violently after he spoke. Kili easily lifted Fili into a semi-sitting position and rubbed his back gently, before pouring a cool glass of water for his brother and helping Fili drink it.

"I want to stay with you Fili, I really do, but I need to help you. I feel so useless just sat here not doing anything, and I know that I have a better chance of helping if I actually do something. I'm leaving tonight, please Fili, don't die until I return. I promise I'll help." Kili's words gushed out before he could stop them and Fili laughed dryly.

"I'll live while you do Kili," He muttered, leaning heavily on him for support. Kili lowered Fili gently back onto the bed and lay next to him, one hand curled on Fili's chest.

"I'll come back I promise. I'll come back when I have the cure." Kili said determinedly. Fili smiled, but his eyes were already fluttering shut, he was exhausted already, even though he had barely moved or spoken. It was getting worse every time he woke up, he could not stay awake for long periods of time anymore. Kili took the book he had taken from Oin and quickly scribbled the symptoms of what was wrong with Fili down on a blank page in the very back, he could always rip it out when he returned.

Footsteps made their way towards Fili and Kili's room and Kili quickly stuffed the book under his pillow and sat up, taking Fili's hand again. He hoped it wasn't Oin, looking for his book, or Thorin or Dis, looking for the statue. It was Dis, but she did not look angry, merely worried, and a little surprised to see Kili back.

"You went out early today," She commented as she moved to Fili's side and checked his temperature with the back of her hand.

Kili shrugged and tried to offer her a smile. "I needed some fresh air, and a little bit of time to think." He replied. He felt bad lying to his mother, but it was the best thing to do. She would never let him go otherwise, and he needed to help Fili.

They spoke a little more, Kili informing her that Fili had just been awake but had been unable to stay that way for long. Dis hugged Kili tightly and kissed his forehead again before she left to prepare some food. Kili's stomach lurched at the thought, this was going to be his last meal with his family for a while, and only he knew it, and Fili, who would not be sharing the meal anyway. Thorin suspected something, Kili was sure of it from the way his uncle had been yesterday, but he could not prove anything. As he thought of Thorin an idea formed in Kili's mind. If anybody was going to have a map it would be Thorin, hidden in the room he had in their house. Slipping off his shoes Kili tiptoed through the house, hoping that he did not make too much noise and alert Dis to his sneaking around. When he reached Thorin's door and had not been stopped by an angry hand or shout Kili took a deep breath and opened the door.

Surprisingly Thorin was in his room, sat at the desk with his head in his hands. Kili froze and made to leave the room when Thorin lifted his head, sensing somebody behind him and turned quickly, hand going to a small knife he always kept by his waist. When he saw it was Kili he immediately dropped his hand, the shadow of a smile ghosting his face.

"What is it Kili? You looked terrified." Thorin asked, running a hand through his hair as he scrutinised his nephew.

"I didn't expect you to be here is all," Kili replied slowly, trying to think of an excuse to borrow a map of Middle Earth from Thorin. "You're normally working during the day."

"I'm on a later shift tonight, to work with Dwalin and Balin. Now what was it you wanted so badly from my room that you would sneak in here alone to get it?" Thorin inquired, folding his arms.

Kili tried to smile but found he couldn't. Taking a deep breath he decided on the next lie he was going to tell a family member and pointed at Thorin's desk.  
"When I was out today I thought that I should try and catch up on some of my studies, otherwise you'll keep me inside to do them when Fili gets better. Do you have a map of Middle Earth uncle? I wanted to do some geography."

Surprised at how easy it had been to lie about something he hated as much as geography and non-practical lessons, Kili waited nervously for Thorin's response.

His uncle did not question Kili's need for a map, merely rummaged in a draw on his desk and handed a folded up map to Kili. Kili unfolded it and realised he knew this map, it was the map that he had stolen countless times as a child to pick a place in Middle Earth that he could turn Ered Luin and his house into and become the bravest warrior it had ever seen.

"Thank you uncle Thorin," He murmured absently, turning and exiting the room. Thorin frowned as the door closed. There was definitely something wrong with Kili, but after Fili being ill for so long Thorin would have been surprised if something wasn't wrong with Kili as well. The two brothers loved each other dearly and did everything together. Kili had refused to do anything unless Fili was there and Fili was the same, which caused problems sometimes because Fili should have started doing things, such as weapons training, five years before Kili, but they always had to wait until Kili was old enough, so Fili started things five years later than most dwarves did. Now Fili was ill Kili refused to do anything and had been inside nearly every day, it was no wonder he was acting strangely.

Kili was oblivious to the fact that he had acted strange around Thorin at all, busy pouring over his map of Middle Earth. Ered Luin was very far West, near the sea from the looks of it. 'The Shire', whatever that was, lay next to the mountains, with wilderness to the north and south. Rivendell was close to the Misty Mountains and sort of near Moria, the way Kili saw it and on the other side of the Misty Mountains lay Lorien. Kili did not know much about Rivendell and Lorien, only that they were full of elves. Elves were good healers, but Kili doubted that he could bring an elf back to Ered Luin, it would not sit well with Thorin and he would not let the elf near Fili. The Anduin separated Lorien and the borders of Greenwood. Kili remembered the stories Thorin had told him about the elves of Greenwood, especially their King, Thranduil. They had abandoned the dwarves on the day Smaug had attacked and that had driven the hatred of elves deep into his uncle. Kili had once voiced the opinion that if the dwarves couldn't deal with the dragon, what could the elves hope to achieve, and that was probably why Thranduil had retreated, knowing that he was less able to win. Thorin had lost his temper with his nephew at that point and had come close to beating him, yelling and shouting at him as Balin dragged him off. Kili shivered at the memory. His eyes were drawn to Erebor, north east of Mirkwood, near the ruined town of Dale. There was no help for him there. The Iron Hills stood out even further eastward, where Dain and his people lived. Kili did not think it would be wise for him to trek to the Iron Hills. If Oin could not heal his brother than the dwarves of the Iron Hills would probably not be able to either. To the south were the lands of Rohan and Gondor, and the forest of Fangorn. Kili had never been taught much about the southern areas of the maps he had seen, he was sure this was because his uncle didn't know much about their history or their people, except that they were ruled by men. He would not go there for help.

"My best bet is the elves," He muttered aloud, "Even if I cannot bring one back here I can ask them if they know how to heal Fili and get them to teach me as quickly as possible. So...Rivendell would be my first stop. I don't know much about this Shire place, so maybe if I go northward and pass through Emyn Uial and then go around the North Downs, and then go south to the Last Bridge and cross over to try and find Rivendell." Kili continued speaking out loud even though there was a chance that Thorin or Dis might overhear him and realise what he was planning to do.  
"I might do it after dinner, when everyone has gone to bed. I need to get all my weapons ready and the bag is ready and I need the book and the map. Thorin will go out late, so I'll sneak out after he's gone so he can't see me." Kili continued. Fili shivered behind him, pulling Kili from his thoughts so he could draw the covers up closer to Fili's chin and hug him tightly to warm him up.

_Hold on Fili, after tonight I will definitely find you a cure_. Kili thought firmly and kissed Fili's cheek.

Dinner was uneventful, a silent affair. Kili was used to this, it had been silent since Fili had gotten extremely ill, but he felt uneasy in the silence now, it made him feel like Dis and Thorin knew what he was planning to do in less than three or four hours. Not one word was spoken and Kili finished before Dis and Thorin and left the room to head back to Fili. His brother looked peaceful for once and Kili smiled properly for the first time in a while. Dis had followed him up, despite still having food on the table, with a small portion to see if Fili could eat something.

"Don't wake him mama," Kili requested as Dis entered. "He looks peaceful right now. If you want him to eat I'll feed him later if he wakes up."

Dis nodded and left silently. Kili did not like seeing his mother so downtrodden and wondered if she could survive him running away to save Fili. She would not know why Kili had run away and that might break her heart, but Kili couldn't tell her because she would never let him leave. Fili needed him more than his mother did. Thorin could look after her. He had to look after Fili. Lying down next to Fili on his bed after he had gathered everything he needed for the journey, Kili closed his eyes and allowed himself to doze while he waited for Dis to go to bed and for Thorin to leave for work.

When he woke up later because of Fili flailing in his feverish state and realised that he had fallen asleep and had lost precious time. He could tell it was late because the room was pitch black and there were no sounds coming from the house, meaning Thorin had already left for work and Dis was probably sleeping soundly. Kili jumped from the bed and slipped on his quiver of arrows, banging as he fell to the floor.

"Shit," He hissed, staying still to see if Dis was moving. When he heard no sound coming from the house he quickly dressed himself in proper travelling clothes, choosing to leave the furs that were patterned with the royal symbols of Erebor behind. He did not want trouble on his journey. Swinging the bag onto his back and fixing his quiver into place Kili took one last look at Fili, who was shaking, his eyes screwed tightly shut in pain. He scrawled a note on a small scrap of paper for Dis to find in the morning before he turned to his brother.  
"I will cure you Fili," He whispered before quietly exiting the room and heading down and out of the house.

In the dark he knew the way outside to where the markets were held, and from there he knew the direction that the path took down from the mountains onto the plains below. Just because he knew where the path was did not mean he could traverse it at night. Kili had never been down this path before and was not sure he was confident at tackling it for the first time at night but he had no other choice if he wanted to leave. Gritting his teeth Kili pushed forward, not looking back but certainly not forgetting what he was leaving behind.

The path was mainly solid and it was easy to tell where it curved with the mountainside. Kili could only assume it wouldn't stay so easy as he got towards the bottom, but was proven wrong when he found himself at the bottom of the mountains of Ered Luin, looking across what he could see of Eriador, the region that Ered Luin was in, and somewhere he knew the Lhûn headed towards the sea. The world was beautiful, even if he was seeing it at night. Kili fumbled for a moment with his arms at the bag on his back, working the map he had stole from Thorin out of one of the pockets. The light of the moon and stars was just bright enough for him to see the outlines of the map and he tracked the path he had chosen beforehand. The young dwarf wanted to get to the Lhûn by at least the morning so that he could find the best way to cross it and then any dwarf that began following him when they realised he was missing would lose his tracks.

"Fili…" Kili murmured, closing his eyes and trying to smile. He missed his brother already and he had only been gone for what he assumed was an hour, for the first time Kili was filled with doubt that he could survive alone in the wild without Fili, he had such a strong bond with his brother and every step he took would take him further away from his brother.

Taking a deep breath Kili took his first step, then his second, picking up a quick pace as soon as he had taken at least five steps away from the mountains of Ered Luin. Excitement bubbled up in him as he started jogging away from the mountains that he called home; heading what he hoped was north-east, or at least north, so he could bypass the place called the Shire and approach Rivendell from the north. _I hope there are landmarks that will tell me where I am when the sun rises,_ Kili thought to himself suddenly, but it was too late to turn back now, he had already begun. _Fili, hold on for me, I'll definitely return with a cure._


	2. The Journey Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kili starts his journey while back in Ered Luin Dis discovers that her youngest son has run off. Thorin gathers a few dwarves and sets off to find him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little more Dis/Thorin/other!centric than Kili!centric because I'm not great at writing out a journey if only one person is undertaking it. I also think this one runs smoothly on from the last chapter better than some of the others because I originally was writing this story as a oneshot for a 100 Theme Challenge but it got over 10,000 words so I decided to split it up. 
> 
> Enjoy part two. Reviews welcome.

### The Journey Begins

Dis did not bother to check on her sons during the night because she knew that if Fili encountered a problem Kili would be right by his side to help him. She regretted this choice as soon as she entered their shared bedroom this morning and found Kili gone. Thorin was not back from work yet but Dis was sure that Kili would not leave Fili's side during the night to watch Thorin working. The scrap of paper that Kili had scribbled on before he had left fluttered on the bed as she moved the covers back off Fili's body to change his sweat stained clothes and Dis immediately grabbed it and read it. Her eyes widened as she read and reread Kili's words, her breath hitching and tears lining her eyes. Dis was a tough dwarf, she hardly cried and only Fili being on death's door had brought her to tears, but the fact that her youngest son had disappeared from the safety of his home moved her to tears again.

She did not want to leave Fili alone in the house but she had to bring this to Thorin's attention. Kissing Fili's forehead Dis ran from her house towards the entrance to the mines. Thorin could be anywhere in the mines, but she had to meet a dwarf before she entered the mines that could tell her where Thorin was. It turned out to be Bofur that she ran into; covered in grime and dust from the mines and scratching his head under the twisted hat he wore.

"Y'alright Lady Dis?" Bofur asked as Dis ran towards him. "Your eyes are a bit wild."

"Where is Thorin, Bofur? Do you know where he is in the mines?" Dis asked quickly, stumbling over her words, not bothering to chastise Bofur for using the 'Lady' before her name, as he insisted to because of her lineage.

Bofur blinked at her quick words, taking a moment to process what the dwarven woman had said to him because he was so tired. "Oh…Thorin is still in the mines…not quite sure where. I can go and look for 'im if you want m'Lady," He inquired.

"Take me too him," Dis ordered.

"I can't take you into the mines, Lady Dis, that would be wrong of me. I'll go and fetch 'im for you." Bofur replied softly, turning round back into the mines and disappearing. Dis wanted to follow him regardless of what he said but she refrained, pacing back and forth with the note clasped in her hand, waiting for Thorin to appear from the darkness of mine with Bofur. It took the miner dwarf ten minutes to find Thorin and bring him to the surface, looking disgruntled at being called from his work. As soon as he saw Dis' face his angered looked disappeared from his face and he rushed over to his younger sister. Bofur, though curious about what had Dis so riled, did not hang around to find out, giving the siblings some space.

"Dis what is the matter?" Thorin asked urgently, "Is it Fili?"

"No…no it's Kili…he's gone!" Dis cried, handing Thorin the note. Thorin snatched it and his expression darkened as he read his nephews words.

"He has run away?" Thorin growled.

Dis shook her head, "He's gone to find a cure for Fili, Thorin. He's put himself in danger for his older brother." She whispered.

Thorin looked a little lost after Dis' words.

"I don't care why he has left the mountains, we must send out a search party to find him and bring him home." He decided after a moment. "BOFUR!" He yelled.

Bofur, who had stopped to allow Bombur to catch his breath after he had rushed to meet Bofur coming home from the mines, jumped and turned to look at the heir to Erebor. Swapping glances with his brother Bofur approached Thorin.

"Yes sir?" He asked quietly, looking from one to the other.

"You are one of the dwarves that knows that Fili is extremely sick, correct?" Thorin asked.

"Yes."

"Well Kili has left Ered Luin to search the world for a cure for his brother." Thorin continued. "And he is too young to be travelling the wilds alone. Gather the best trackers amongst the dwarves that you know and tell them that Kili has left Ered Luin and I will be leading them to find him and get him back." The dwarf prince ordered.

"Aye sir," Bofur saluted Thorin, bowed to Dis and hurried off to where Bombur was waiting, relaying the message to his brother and pulling him off to gather the dwarves that Thorin desired.

"I will get him back Dis, your sons will be safe together." Thorin promised his sister, gathering her into his arms as she started to sob.

Bofur returned with a large weapon, followed by Dwalin, Balin and Oin. Thorin did not looked impressed that there was only going to be four accompanying him, but he did not argue. Dwalin and Balin were very close to their family and had helped with the bringing up of the two troublesome boys of Dis. Oin liked the boys, as did Gloin, but Thorin wondered why he would want to leave the mountains to find Kili.

"Oin, you want to come?" He inquired.

"I've found that the book I compiled about herbs and medicinal plants is missing. I believe that Kili may have taken it when I heard Bofur's message and I would like to accompany you to get him back. Those boys are precious, and they make a lot of the dwarves of Ered Luin happy, able to forget a lot of troubles from their past. I would like to accompany you to find them," Oin replied softly.

"I feel the same," Bofur piped up before Thorin could ask him why he wanted to go, " Fili and Kili are just what Oin said they are and they are a welcomed sight around Ered Luin. You should be able to tell that many dwarves have not been as happy since Fili and Kili have not been out an' about. I'm worried about Kili. Plus you sent me to go and gather up these lovely fellows."

"Alright," Thorin stated to stop the dwarf before he could continue and crossed his arms, thinking quickly. Dis stood by his side looking at each of the other dwarves in turn, silently pleading them to bring her son back safe.  
"All of you get ready for the journey. Bring weapons and food, bedrolls if you wish and say goodbye to all your friends and family before we leave. Meet me here in half an hour, that's all you have." Thorin ordered after a moment, taking Dis' hand and leading her back towards their house.

Fili was quiet in the bed when they returned, his eyes close, breathing soft and even, hitching every now and then as though he was crying. Dis sat by him and took his hand.

"He knows that Kili is gone," She murmured, watching her eldest son.

"Of course he does, their bond is so strong even if he is not conscious Fili would know that Kili was gone." Thorin agreed and smiled softly, looking down at his nephew tenderly. He hadn't seen Fili so peaceful for a while, but it was not nice to see him peaceful now his brother was gone.

"Make sure you bring him back Thorin, bring me back my son safe and sound," Dis muttered, refusing to look at her brother. Thorin nodded and swept from the room to gather the things he would need for the journey to find his nephew.

/ 

The Lhûn was further away than Kili had imagined it would be, but reading maps hadn't been a strong point of his and judging the true distance of the land from the distance on the map was difficult for him. Day broke and Kili could see the sparkle of the rising sun on the water of the Lhûn ahead of him, but from where he was, out in the open as he was, he could tell that there was a lot of ground for him still to cover. He had gotten tired of jogging after about three hours and had started walking as quickly as he could but he hadn't achieved his goal and he was angry at himself. Thorin would surely know he was gone now and would be rallying dwarves to come with him to find Kili and drag him, he had to get over the Lhûn and into the true wilderness before Thorin and the older dwarves that were surely going to start pursuing him caught him.

He had long since put his map away because he could see the dim outline of Emyn Uial, the hills that he was going to cross, or skirt round, depending on the easiest path for him. The Lhûn grew closer and closer and soon Kili was stood on the bank of the river, looking at the somewhat slow running water. He was no fool, no matter what other dwarves said, and knew that even if the water was running sluggishly on top it could have a faster current below. Kili did not know how to test this.

"If I just test the depth perhaps I can just rush through and get to the other side." He mused to himself as he examined the opposite bank. That bank was raised higher than the bank he was on, only a little, but it gave Kili an idea. Taking an arrow from his quiver Kili fumbled around backwards in his bag again for rope and when he had managed to extract it and untangle it Kili tied the end of it around his arrow and, taking careful aim, fired it into the opposite bank. It sank deeply into the soil on the other side and Kili pulled the rope to test the strength of it. Tying the other end of the rope around another arrow Kili rammed this one deeply into the earth on his side of the river, creating a taught but thin rope bridge.

"If I were an elf this would be easy," Kili muttered to himself, "But I can't balance on this rope…so I could just use it to hold my footing and cross the river."

Kili took his bag off his back and balanced it over the rope so that it wouldn't get wet. He needed the map to stay dry as well as the majority of his food and he wasn't sure if the bag would dry if it was wet. Taking a deep breath Kili stepped into the river carefully, using one hand to balance the bag and wrapping the other tightly around the rope to keep his footing. The river was not as deep as he thought it was, coming at least half way up his thighs. It was cold though and Kili was shivering when he reached the other side, scrambling with numb fingers and legs out of the river. As he wiggled the arrow free from the bank he heard howls in the distance. Kili froze and quickly drew a short sword he had brought with him, slicing through the rope attached to the arrow on the other side. It left him with shorter rope that might put him at a disadvantage later on but Kili did not want to hang around if there were wolves around, if he could he wanted to avoid as many fights as possible to avoid getting injured and failing his brother.

/ 

Thorin and the four dwarves that had accompanied him down the mountains, quicker than Kili had managed to do so the night before, heard the wolf cries, quiet in the silent air. Thorin froze, much like Kili had, fear spreading through him for his nephew.

"Those are the cries of hungry wolves," Dwalin grunted, "It means that they have either found Kili and see him as food, or they are searching for food and Kili is safe."

"We must go quickly," Thorin growled, running forward as quickly as possible. He had no idea how far Kili had travelled, or which direction his nephew had chosen to travel in, but he decided to go towards the sounds of the wolves, coming from the north-east of Ered Luin. Bofur, Balin, Dwalin and Oin followed him wordlessly, each of them with their brow furrowed, worried about the dwarf they were pursuing.

The dwarven hunting party continued in silence for a couple of hours until they arrived at the Lhûn. Thorin paused here and tried to pick out any marks in the dirt that symbolised Kili had scrambled into the river and crossed over the river.

"Thorin!" Bofur cried, knelt down near the bank. The other four dwarves gathered around the miner as he pulled a length of rope from the river. Thorin's heart was in his throat as he watched, hoping that Kili was not attached to the end of that rope. Bofur finally managed to pull the length from the river and it was not attached to anything, but the end was frayed as though it had been cut. Bofur stood and offered the end to Thorin, who took it tentatively and examined it. Had Kili cut the rope himself or had somebody come across the dwarf trying to cross the river with the help of a rope bridge and cut it so he would be carried off down the river?

"There are marks on the other side of the river Thorin," Dwalin exclaimed, "Scramble marks. Kili may have made it over the river and cut the rope when he heard the wolves so he was not hanging around here when they arrived."

"Where could he be going in this direction?" Oin inquired.

"It seems he's off towards Emyn Uial." Bofur whistled, gesturing to the outline of the hills ahead of them across the river, "But what he assumes he'll find there I cannot say."

"Emyn Uial…" Thorin muttered. "We have no idea where he's going…and we cannot risk injury or death to find him and bring him home, but I promised my sister I would find him."

"We can move forward laddie and try and follow whatever tracks the young lad might have left behind, before any other nasty creatures might find him." Balin said gently, putting a hand on Thorin's arm.

"We must go forward." Thorin agreed and turned to the dwarves standing around him. "We're going to continue after my nephew to Emyn Uial and if we do not catch him there then we must have missed him turning from this path and we will return to Ered Luin without him. I am not asking any of you to continue with me on my journey as it is to find my own kin, none of yours."

"Don't be stupid lad," Bofur laughed, "Kili is as much our kin as he is yours y'know? He's such a cute lad, and he makes life a huge laugh even in the darkness of the world. I'm going with you."

"We stood by you through many of the hardships you have ever faced, Thorin; we will not leave you now." Balin added. Dwalin nodded.

"I will not be the only dwarf to return to Ered Luin after coming this far. I can help in case the lad is injured." Oin said firmly.

"So be it." Thorin murmured, "Let's figure out how to cross this river before Kili gets too many leagues ahead of us."

/ 

Jogging as best as he could with his furs wet and heavy on his shoulders Kili could not hear the wolves howling anymore, but he knew that if Thorin was after him they'd be able to catch him if he did not keep up a quick pace. He was optimistic that he would find some way to help his brother, but when he had finally reached the base of Emyn Uial a lot of that optimism had left him and he was gasping for breath and desperately hungry.

"I can't stop yet!" Kili chastised his body as his stomach rumbled. "I have to make headway up these hills before I can stop and rest, otherwise Uncle will catch me."

Taking a deep breath Kili tensed his muscles and searched for a path through the hills. The dark haired dwarf eventually found a small path winding up the hills towards the top. _What the hell_ , Kili thought, throwing caution to the wind and ran at the path, ignoring the burn in his lungs and the cramping of his leg muscles. He had come so far, he could not let Thorin find him and drag him back to Ered Luin.

"Fili you better be holding on back home, waiting for me to come back. I won't forgive you if you're dead when I come home." Kili growled, deciding to make himself angry to motivate himself to continue up the hill. The path he was walking was unkempt and gravelly and ever so often Kili stumbled and nearly fell because of the pace he was moving at. He was angry now, angry every time he nearly fell, every time he thought about Fili and him dying before he himself returned, and the anger that he had gave him the strength to continue even though he hadn't eaten, hadn't slept, hadn't rested properly since he had started out the night before. _I can't complain about this situation_ , he thought angrily, _Fili can't eat when he wants, he has no rest from illness, he cannot sleep as much as he wants because he is in so much pain because of his illness…I cannot rest until I know that Fili can. I will not let Uncle Thorin find me and take me back! I will find out how to help my brother!_

/ 

Thorin himself had to admit defeat when they reached Emyn Uial and they lost any sign of Kili heading into the hills. Had they gone the wrong way? Had the young dwarf known that he was being followed and slipped away from them with the skill of a trained tracker? Thorin did not want to have to return to Ered Luin without his youngest nephew, he could not face Dis and tell her that he had failed to find her son. If Kili died who would recover his body and give him the proper burial he deserved as an heir of Durin? Dis would never forgive him if he turned back home now without Kili, no matter whether she announced it verbally or not.

"I need to ask you all a question." Thorin said softly after a moment. Bofur glanced up from where he was sat on a low rock at the base of the hills. Balin and Dwalin had been silently conversing but turned back with Oin now to look at their leader.  
"There are no signs of Kili on this path," Thorin began, "But I believe there may be more paths up these hills that Kili could have taken. I do not want to admit defeat and leave Kili alone in the wilderness, but my heart also yearns to return to Ered Luin in case something happens to Fili while Dis is alone there with him. I need advice from you all in what actions we should take."

Out of the four dwarves gathered Bofur and Oin were shocked to hear Thorin asking for advice, as they had always seen Thorin as a leader that always had a plan and was never stuck.

"You should return to Ered Luin lad," Balin stated firmly after a moment of silence. Thorin turned to him with widening eyes. "I am not saying that we abandon the search for Kili, my friend, but I am merely saying that you should be with Dis and Fili while we look for Kili."

"Balin is right Thorin," Bofur piped up, "We can track as well as you and we could easily overpower Kili and bring 'im home but Lady Dis and young Fili need you to be there for 'em, to support 'em and care for 'em and reassure 'em both that Kili will return."

"There would be no shame in you turning back Thorin," Dwalin continued, "You are taking actions to look after all of your remaining family by standing by those that are at home and searching for the one that has left, even if it is not you yourself that is after him. I will not stop until I find Kili and bring him home safely."

"Think of it lad," Oin added, "Fili could die while you're out here looking for Kili, and we would have no way to know at all and Dis would be left all alone to deal with it."

"I shall not return alone." Thorin decided, "If I do return. Bofur, I trust you to continue for me, you have keen eyes and keen ears. Dwalin, you will accompany him. Oin, I have no rights to order you around so you may choose either option. Balin, you will return with me."

Balin did not argue with Thorin's decision although the Prince of Erebor knew that his friend would rather spend his time looking for Kili and bringing him home safely, but Balin also knew that Thorin would feel weak and his honour would be undermined if he returned alone.

Bofur and Dwalin, an unlikely pair to do things together but willing to do so under the circumstances, came together and stood near the base of Emyn Uial. Oin went to stand with them.

"I am still a healer and I would be able to help if the lad has been injured, I am going with the hunting party." He offered as an explanation for his choice, though nobody had asked for one.

"So be it. Find him. Do not stop until he is found and drag him home if you have to. Leave the punishment to Dis and myself when he is home but I want him here even if you have to tie him up." Thorin ordered grimly. Dwalin nodded, if any of the three that would be searching for Kili was going to carry the dwarf home it would be him, closer to Kili than Bofur or Oin and more capable of instilling fear into him.

"Make sure you tell Lady Dis that we are going to find her son," Bofur called as Thorin and Balin turned to head back to Ered Luin. Thorin merely waved in acceptance of Bofur's words, he was not likely to return without three of the dwarves he had set out with and without Kili besides that and not explain to his sister what had happened. Dis was a force to be reckoned with at the best of times but this had increased after the birth of her sons and when it came to their safety even the bravest of dwarven warriors would shiver at the thought of facing her. Thorin had tried to harden himself against her tears and her blazing emotions, building a wall around himself that no one could penetrate but sometimes when he looked into her eyes he saw fire burning there that he knew he would not want directed at him.

Balin was silent as they travelled quickly back to Ered Luin, for he knew Thorin took this return as a defeat, whether Dwalin, Bofur and Oin were still out looking for Kili or not. Many hardships had bent Thorin's soul, though it was nowhere near broken, but Balin worried that if Kili came to harm or Fili died from his sickness then the King that he followed would be utterly broken. Thorin loved his nephews like they were his own sons and cared for them as such, although he did act tough around them most of the time and did not encourage how playful they were. Balin knew his friend well and knew that Thorin chastised the boys for being so playful and unconcerned about their heritage because he was afraid of their innocence and the fact that one day they would have to lose that innocence and become tough, hardened warriors like him, like Dwalin, like Balin himself and if Thorin wanted anything more than to reclaim what had been stolen from his family it was to protect his sister-sons from the horrors of the real world, of battle and of the chance that they could lose each other.

This train of thought stayed with Balin all the way back to Ered Luin. Thorin was thinking differently, not focusing on what the boys had to become but what they were. He was so proud of both of them, though many thought Fili may not have earned this respect and pride because he had been bedridden and Kili had hardly left his side, but that was why Thorin was proud of them. Kili had, eventually, accepted that Fili was severly sick and had from that day taken it upon himself to not only look after his brother but become a skilled warrior as well, taking the chance to learn things so he could relay them to Fili, teaching his brother the lore of fighting and the techniques he had learnt, even when Fili lay unconscious and gripped with fever. Kili had accepted the responsibility for looking after Fili completely onto his own shoulders, despite Dis and Thorin, Dwalin and Balin among other dwarves standing by to support him and Fili as well. He had shown how mature he could be over the months and months that Fili had been sick and this set a deep feeling of pride in Thorin's heart. Fili, well Fili had resisted the illness at first and had still forced himself to follow Kili around, to play with his little brother and protect him, to hold him while he cried even though Fili's insides were on fire and he wanted to cry from the pain. He had hidden it for so long that Thorin was impressed he had not succumbed sooner, and though he thought it incredibly stupid of Fili to do that he also was proud of how protective his nephew had been. Eventually when Fili had had to accept that he could no longer run and shout and play with Kili he had not complained, he lay on his bed day after day, helping when he could to move and clean himself and had patiently accepted all of Kili's tales of mastering archery and sword fighting, despite the fact that Thorin was well aware jealously was eating away at him because he did not have the chance to experience all of this.

Thorin soon found himself brought to tears by the thought that something as small as illness may take his nephews away from him. Dis was strong but Thorin was unsure if she could survive the loss of her sons, especially after the loss of Frerin, their other brother, and their father, grandfather and her husband. Thorin would survive because he had to. Anger burnt deep inside him for the injustices that had been paid to his house and he would not die until he had avenged all those that had been wronged, all those that had been killed. But Dis, dear, sweet Dis, would probably give up the fight if she lost both Fili and Kili.

"Thorin," Balin murmured as Thorin made to walk right into the base of the mountains of Ered Luin, "Thorin we need to climb."

Neither dwarf had rested once on their way back to Ered Luin, walking through the nights just to get back home, so desperate was Thorin to return for Fili and Dis' sake. Now they were nearly there however he was filled with apprehension.

"She'll understand lad," Balin said comfortingly, leading the way up to the where the dwarves lived. "I think she'll appreciate you thinking of her, even if she doesn't say it. And Fili would too, were he awake."

Thorin made a noise to show Balin he had heard what he had said, but he could not speak because of a fear that was slowly spreading through him. What if his hesitation over the right course of action had caused Kili to be injured? What if Fili had taken a turn for the worst and Dis was scared she would be left all alone and was grieving for a son who did not seem to have a chance of ever recovering? Balin told Thorin that he was going to go home and get some rest and that he would check in on him and Dis in the morning. Thorin nodded silently, making his way to Dis' home.

It seemed as though his sister knew he was coming for she was out of the door and into his arms before he had even come within an arms length of opening the door. Whether she thought he had succeeded was unclear because she was hugging him so tightly Thorin didn't get a chance to hear the muffled words she was speaking into his furs. Gently he put his hands on her shoulders and pried her off him, pushing her back until they could see eye to eye.

"Where is he Thorin? I'm going to punish him so much for running off! Kili! Where are you hiding?!" She cried. When her youngest son didn't appear looking sheepish and sulky Dis turned uncertain eyes to Thorin.

"Dis-." He began but she cut across him.

"You swore you would bring him back," She whispered.

"Dis we followed his tracks to Emyn Uial," Thorin explained. Dis' eyes widened as he spoke, Kili had gotten so far in his quest for Fili? "But his tracks stopped there. I could go no further with the weight of you here alone with Fili, with nobody to support you if anything happened. Bofur, Dwalin and Oin have continued on in my place and myself and Balin have returned here, for you and for Fili. I trust that Kili will be found by those three and brought home safely. I was thinking of you and Fili sister when I made this choice, please think of that." He continued.

Dis was silent. She pulled back completely out of his arms as her lower lip trembled. "There has been no change in Fili since you left. He's just lying there, seemingly peacefully, labouring to breath, a sheen of sweat on his forehead."

"I did not want to take any chance of anything happening while I was gone, for you Dis," Thorin repeated.

"I know, but at what cost?" Dis inquired. "Kili could be injured, my son could be lying out there hurt and alone and lost and want his uncle to come and save him."

Thorin gave a wry smile, "If he wanted anyone it would be Fili."

"That is not my point," Dis snapped. Thorin looked rather taken aback at her tone, he had not expected her to be angry and Dis ran a hand through her hair before taking Thorin's hand and leading him inside. They stood awkwardly in the kitchen when they had entered, both unsure what to say.  
"I am happy that you are back Thorin," She murmured, "I just wish Kili was with you."

"I do too. It was a hard decision to make, to leave knowing that he was still out there, alone and possibly hurt." Thorin admitted, "But Balin, Dwalin, Bofur and Oin all gave me the same advice and I felt it made sense to follow it, Balin and Dwalin have never given me advice I could never follow before. Dwalin will not return, even if Bofur and Oin do, until he has found Kili, not matter how long it takes."

Dis laughed a little, even though it sounded hollow and fake. "If you were not Kili's uncle I would say that he got his determination from Dwalin. I am sure Kili would not return 

until he had a cure for Fili no matter how long it took." 

"I'm sure he would." Thorin agreed, wrapping his arm around Dis and hugging her tightly. He felt her tremble in his hold and knew that silent tears were coming from her eyes. "I'm sure he would."

/ 

As Thorin and Balin walked away Bofur, Dwalin and Oin turned to face Emyn Uial. Bofur and Oin were both content to allow Dwalin to take the lead in Thorin's absence, and were waiting patiently for the taller dwarf to make a decision.

"We will spread out and see if we can find other paths through these hills. If you find a way up call out." Dwalin decided.

"Righteo." Bofur exclaimed and headed off South down the edges of Emyn Uial. Oin and Dwalin moved off in the other direction.

Bofur kept his eyes on the ground, searching for any signs that Kili had passed through Emyn Uial. Dwalin and Oin did the same, though they did it in silence. Bofur was humming to himself, a tune that his brother Bombur had liked as a child. He knew he shouldn't have been happy in this situation but he liked being outside of the mines every now and then. He missed Bombur, but Kili was important to a lot of people and Bofur liked the young dwarf himself.

Being distracted by his thoughts Bofur almost missed the footprints in the dirt below his feet, footsteps that matched the ones they had been following before reaching Emyn Uial. Turning he saw Dwalin and Oin coming towards him, evidently having found nothing worth investigating. Bofur waited for them to reach him before gesturing to the foot prints.

"I think I found out which way he went," He commented. Dwalin nodded.

"Let's go," He ordered, taking the lead. Bofur allowed Oin to go ahead of him, bringing up the rear and keeping his eyes and ears peeled for any signs of danger, or a young black haired dwarf.

 _You better be okay lad_ , Bofur thought with a deep sigh, _who knows what'll happen to your family if you aren't._


	3. Orcs and Elves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kili runs into some orcs on his journey, will he find his way into Rivendell with them chasing him and if he does indeed find Rivendell, how will he be received? Bofur, Oin and Dwalin continue searching and Thorin sits at homes and worries about his nephew while trying to comfort his sister.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can safely say that despite the fact I have a big poster of Middle Earth right in front of me above my desk I am really bad at Geography in all worlds and I cannot say I have any idea how long it would take to get from Ered Luin to Rivendell while mostly running/jogging, so if it seems kind of unreasonable...well it's written now xD

### Orcs and Elves

Kili had been gone for at least two weeks and no word had come back to Ered Luin from Dwalin, Bofur or Oin. Thorin was beyond worried now. How could a young dwarf escape the capture from a warrior as experienced as Dwalin and Bofur, who could claim to be a rather talented hunter for so long? Dis was focusing on looking after Fili while Kili was gone but his state had not really changed, except that his breathing was less labouring now. Thorin could tell his sister was worried but they did not speak of Kili, his name had become a taboo in their household.

Balin sat at his side now, two and a half weeks since Kili had run off. Dis was with Fili. Thorin could not bring himself to work even though he knew he needed to, to bring in an income for the family that remained.

"He'll be alright Thorin," Balin said, breaking the silence that had stretched between them for at least three hours. Balin had said this to him many times before and Thorin had never really given a response to it before.

"How can he be Balin? Do you think they are delaying? What if they have found Kili dead and they are delaying the return because they do not think we can take the news." Thorin stopped himself before he started rambling; checking his anger and reminding himself that Dwalin would not do that to him. Or so he hoped.

"Come now Thorin, you know little Kili has resources. Remember what he was like as a dwarfling-."

"He's still a dwarfling Balin," Thorin said somewhat harshly. Balin did not blink, he did not even looked surprised at Thorin's tone, merely took a breath before continuing.

"A younger dwarfling then, and a smaller one. You would tell him to stay in his room and would constantly watch the door and yet he always found a way to get out. He was wrestling dwarves twice his size when he was only 20 and even though he rarely won he never stopped doing it, he was so determined. Kili has your blood in him Thorin. He is an heir of Durin and they do not go down without a fight. Kili is alive."

Thorin sighed and nodded. He knew Balin was right. Dwarves were a hardy race and none of them would go down without a good fight and besides that he had raised Fili and Kili both to believe that the line of Durin would forever survive. Kili would drag himself across Middle Earth and back to Ered Luin, even if all the bones in his body broken and blood was trailing behind him just to save Fili. There was no way he was dead.

"You've got to get out of this cycle Thorin." Balin spoke again and Thorin jumped.

"What cycle?"

"You get depressed and angry about Kili being gone and worry that he is dead and then you break out of that sadness and tell yourself constantly that he is going to be fine. It's a vicious cycle Thorin and you need to pick a side. Do you think Kili is dead or do you think that he would pull through no matter what?" Balin asked.

"I don't know," Thorin replied, exasperated and suddenly exhausted. "Part of me thinks he is dead, or will be and yet another part of me believes he will succeed. Balin I am of two minds about this and it's not about to change soon…I want to just believe that he will succeed but I cannot."

Balin stood and clasped Thorin's shoulders for a brief moment. "I suggest you adopt that mindset even if you don't believe it and comfort your sister Thorin. I know Kili is an issue that you don't bring up but I think she needs some reassurance."

With that said he left the house and left Thorin alone. Dis was in Fili's room he knew and he also knew Balin was right and his sister needed some reassurance that Kili would return. He remembered before Fili had gotten ill bringing up the issue of when he was going to learn the responsibilities of being the heir to the throne. Dis had agreed that Fili would have to learn; she could read Thorin well and knew that one day her brother would try and reclaim Erebor; it was burnt into his soul. Thorin had then tentatively suggested that he take Fili away with him and raise him and teach him because he thought Kili was a bad influence, being so childish and so attached to Fili. That was when Thorin had seen Dis angered and protective over her children and he had sworn never to ask her to part from her children again.

"Dis." He said quietly, having subconsciously moved to the door of Fili's room. She did not look at him but she moved slightly as acknowledgement that he was there. "He will come home," Thorin continued.

Dis let out a breath and stood from her seat on Kili's empty bed.

"You cannot promise me that Thorin." She whispered.

Thorin crossed the room and enveloped her in a tight hug. They had not touched since the night he had returned, had been avoiding each other and the subject of Kili, or Fili for that matter. Dis was tense in his arms for a few minutes before she relaxed into the hug and clung tightly to her older brother. She was not crying. Thorin knew she was trying to hold it all back. But she was reacting to him and that was a good sign.

"You know your son Dis." He whispered. "He is a tough kid, and would go to the ends of the Earth and back for Fili, no matter what it cost him. If he set out to bring Fili back a cure then he will return, no matter what. You have to believe in him Dis. Somewhere your little boy is thinking of home and probably wondering what we're thinking of him right now, now that we know he is gone, have known for ages. In his heart he will wish that we support him and believe in him, in his head he will assume this is not true. Make it true Dis. Believe in him."

Silence descended when Thorin had finished speaking, broken only by the occasional cough from Fili. Dis nodded against his chest but did not speak.

"Kili." Thorin whispered. "Kili we believe you will return to us. And you better do so safely."

/ 

_"Kili we believe you will return to us. And you better do so safely."_

Kili jerked upright out of sleep as his uncle's voice resounded through his head. He had been dreaming of home, of the warmth of the fire and the particular smells that went with each person, the syrup cakes that his mother made, the hugs that Fili gave, the rare smiles he managed to get from Uncle Thorin. That dream had faded and suddenly, in the blackness that was left Thorin's voice rang out, but it sounded slightly muffled, as though he was hearing this through water.

Two weeks or so had passed by and Kili had made good time after escaping from Emyn Uial. He had nearly been caught by Bofur. He had realised that Dwalin and Oin were following him and had hidden himself near the top as best he could, lying underneath a boulder that looked as though it was tightly pressed against the floor but actually had a shelf underneath it that he could just squeeze into. Dwalin and Oin had passed him by, wondering why his tracks had disappeared and Kili was about to wriggle out of his hiding spot when Bofur's boots came into view. Bofur thankfully had not seen him, or if he had he hadn't said anything.

Since then Kili had become riddled with doubt about whether he could actually fulfil this journey. He had almost been caught, by dwarves yes, so at least they would not have killed him, but next time it could be orcs or any other foul creature, maybe a goblin or a warg. And through his journey he had found no plants or herbs that looked like they could help Fili. But now, hearing Thorin's voice in his head saying those words Kili felt more confident. Of course he would return, Fili was waiting for him. He couldn't guarantee that he would be completely unharmed when he did, but he would return. Kili gathered his bedroll up and strapped his bag around him, munching on some biscuits as he set off again. He had lost the map at the end of the first week after accidently leaving his bag unoccupied to come back and find it open and with certain objects missing, the map being one of them. Even without it Kili was sure he was heading towards Rivendell. He had passed through a thick forest, skirted around a farmers cottage, spying on him just for a bit to see what it was like for a human living in such an isolated area and was now in a wide plain with rocky outcrops sticking up all over the place.

Sleeping out in the open was dangerous but Kili knew he did not have much choice. He was unsure if reaching Rivendell in two weeks from Ered Luin was an amazing feat or very slow, but he felt proud that even on this open plain he had not been caught. (If only he had known that Dwalin, Bofur and Oin had been waylaid by orcs).

"Now how do you enter Rivendell?" He asked himself, "There has to be a main entrance that anyone can use…otherwise it wouldn't be called…what was it, The Last Homely House or something."

Before losing his map Kili had memorised the parts of it around Rivendell, knowing this was one of his best chances of finding a cure for Fili. Recalling those memories now Kili almost missed the piercing shriek that echoed off the rocks around him. The dark haired dwarf froze. Orcs. There were orcs approaching him. Instinct told him to hide so Kili pressed himself up against one of the rocky outcrops and drew an arrow from his quiver. Closing his eyes he took a deep breath and listened. For a moment he heard nothing but the wind whistling through the blades of grass and a few birds chirping but eventually he heard footsteps. There were too many overlapping ones to count the amount of orcs, but one set headed straight for him, and eventually stopped on the rocky outcrop that he was hiding against. It was now or never.

Quick as a flash Kili pulled away from the rocks and shot the arrow straight at the orc, needing hardly any time to aim. The orc fell dead, a gargled noise exiting its throat as it did. Though not very loud it served the purpose of bringing the other orcs over to investigate. Kili was glad he had learnt how to run and shoot at the same time and did so, avoiding as many orcs as possible as they swarmed at him. Their cries pierced the air as he shot them down, seven, eight, nine, ten…suddenly twenty. Kili was afraid he would run out of arrows as he wasn't so good with a sword yet when a large orc barrelled in to him from the side and knocked him towards a gathering of rocks that looked lethal. Kili was winded as he hit the top of the rock, dropping the arrow he had been about to fire and closed his eyes as he waited for the impact with the ground. That impact never came and Kili felt himself sliding when he hit pure rock to meet gravelly earth at the bottom. The orcs were screeching but they couldn't seem to fathom where he had disappeared to.

His head was aching, he had smashed it on the rocks when he had fallen. Kili lifted it up just a bit to try and see where he was but his vision was swimming and his head hit the dust as he fell unconscious where he lay.

/ 

"Orcs!" Bofur spat as he heard the piercing cries, "I thought we killed 'em all."

"No, there are more over there. Come!" Dwalin yelled a war cry after his short order and took off to where the noises were coming from.

When they three dwarves arrived they saw dead orcs littering the ground, at least twenty-five, maybe even more, all with arrows stuck out of them and the orcs that had survived had run off when the three had approached, fearing reinforcements. Dwalin knew this was elf territory, that they were close to Rivendell and therefore there could have been elves about but Bofur headed straight for the body of the closest orc and pulled the arrow out roughly, examining it.

"This is the same arrow I found by the river," He declared. Dwalin and Oin hurried to his side and both took time examining the arrow.

"You're right this is definitely one of Kili's. In fact all of these are," Dwalin exclaimed.

"Wow, go Kili," Bofur whistled, standing up.

"The orcs may have taken him captive," Oin said after a moment, "After all they did run when we approached and he doesn't seem to be here."

"Yes but we haven't seen him on this plain at all so that doesn't mean anything, he could be hiding." Dwalin disagreed.

"I say we wait for 'im to carry on with his journey, if we hide and wait for 'im eventually he'll show up. And if not, we'll carry on after the orcs in case they did kidnap 'im." Bofur suggested.

Dwalin and Oin considered it before both agreeing.

"We'll rest up there," Dwalin pointed to the top of one of the outcrops, unknowing that Kili lay unconscious underneath it. "It's a good vantage point to see either Kili or enemies."

"Alrighty then," Bofur smiled and led the way to the rocks, climbing them first and rather easily and perching himself right on the edge. Unluckily for the three dwarves even if they had looked down they would not have been able to see Kili and by the time he had regained consciousness they had slowly continued on their way, searching for any sign of him as they went.

/ 

Kili groaned as he started to come round and coughed when he inhaled dust and pebbles. Sitting up he scrambled in his bag, which was remarkably still attached to him and drew out his water skin, which had not burst despite the impact on the rocks. When he had taken a drink and used some water to wash the dust from his eyes Kili looked around him. He was underneath one of the rocks, an orc had hit him and he had landed here. There was no way back up the rock he had slid down, though it looked rough Kili could not get firm grip on it. Turning away from the entrance Kili saw a tunnel leading away from the grassy plain.

 _Well it can't be worse than trying to climb up and severly hurting myself_ , he told himself optimistically, although he knew in his mind it could. Following the passage as well as he could with a throbbing head Kili used the wall for support as he walked. He was surprised to find as he walked his head got better and he didn't seem to be injured anywhere else despite the fact orcs had been slashing at him and when he had first woken up it felt like his head had been split in two and his ribs had been aching. The tunnel seemed to be opening ahead of him so Kili ran the last bit and nearly slipped in a little trickle of water that appeared under his feet. After he had righted himself and got a proper footing Kili glanced up and his breath caught in his throat. He was in the most beautiful valley he had ever seen. Waterfalls cascaded from high cliffs in what should have been a deafening sound but one that came across calm and neutral. There were plants and trees everywhere and a large house ahead of him, splendidly made, seemingly making use of the water running through it and not disturbing the fall of the water. It had to be Rivendell. He had made it.

Kili could barely contain his excitement and ran the rest of the way to the clear cut stone path that led into the house. There was nobody around but Kili was sure this was Rivendell. He turned three hundred and sixty degrees, trying to take it all in at once. When he turned to face the right way again he found himself looking at two dark haired elves, clad in armour, their grey eyes showing identical looks of confusion. Their hands were on their swords. Kili felt blood trickle down his forehead and gulped, nervous now. He may have been able to kill several orcs but he was sure he could not kill an elf, they were much quicker than dwarves and he could tell from the noises the arrows had made when he had run that most of them were broken.

"Who are you?" One of the dark haired elves asked in elvish. Kili frowned. He did not understand elvish but did not want to appear rude by not answering.

"I don't speak elvish," He replied in the common tongue. Most elves knew that, or so he hoped.

The twins, for they must have been twins so alike did they look, smiled but did not remove their hands from their swords.

"My apologies master dwarf," The elf who had originally spoken said in the common tongue.

"My brother here asked you who you were," The other elf supplied. Their voices were identical, Kili had no doubt that they were twins.

"My name is Kili." He began.

"Welcome to Rivendell master Kili," Another voice said and Kili looked past the twins to see another dark haired elf coming towards them down a fleet of steps, so alike to the twins and yet also so different, he seemed wiser and older, perhaps their father?  
"I am Lord Elrond, keeper of the Last Homely House east of the sea. Perhaps you would like to tell me why you have come here?" The elf said and Kili gulped. He knew his uncle Thorin hated elves and said elves hated dwarves but these elves seemed polite. However, if they knew Thorin was his uncle and that he was here to take advantage of their healing powers would they still be willing to help him?

"My brother is sick. In Ered Luin. I have travelled for two weeks or so to reach Rivendell and see if there is a cure for him." Kili gave sparse details. He did not want to tell them the whole story and then be kicked out like some dog.

"Ered Luin? That is far to come indeed for someone as young as you." Elrond commented. "Elladan, Elrohir, you may leave to deal with the orcs that were at our borders. Was it you they were after, Master Kili?"

The twins swept past Kili and out of the gate he had passed through.

"No, I don't know, maybe?" Kili replied, wondering if the orcs had been tracking him. "Can you help my brother?"

Elrond smiled. "Perhaps first I should take a look at you and then we shall talk about your brother. Come." The old elf stepped back and allowed Kili to pass him and climb the stairs, following behind swiftly yet gracefully. Kili looked around him in wonder as he walked, anticipation and excitement bubbling up in him. He had made it! He was in Rivendell and if there was anywhere he could get Fili a cure it would be here. He just hoped he wasn't too late when he finally went to return.


	4. Rivendell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kili has finally made it to Rivendell. Thorin discovers that Kili has taken the statue from Erebor. Glorfindel is carefree and happy, Elladan and Elrohir are friendly and Elrond is worried. Kili learns that elves are not as bad as Thorin said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know Kili probably hates elves but he's being polite to them because he needs their help, so it's not OOCness, it's just Kili being a little naive. So this chapter does focus on Kili in Rivendell a lot more than any of the other characters because I wanted to develop Kili's relationship with the elves of Rivendell, since they are nothing like the stories he's heard from Thorin and I think that Kili would be open to learning a bit more about the elves because of this.
> 
> Hope you enjoy xD

### Rivendell

When he woke up upon silken sheets beneath him, comfortable on a soft mattress and fluffy pillows Kili for a moment wondered whether he was dreaming this after the bang to the head he had received. It took him a moment to realise that he had arrived at Rivendell and after the elven Lord Elrond had cleaned and bandaged his head wound Kili had felt so tired that they had not been able to discuss Fili and finding a cure for him. It was still day time and Kili assumed that he had slept through the whole night and part of the day as well. He had no idea he could have been so tired, he had tried to get as much rest as possible during the journey to conserve his strength.

Slipping from the bed Kili wandered to the window, his mind momentarily peaceful as he looked out again on the beauty of the valley of Rivendell. He had actually made it. In his heart Kili had doubted that he would be able to find the valley because it was hidden and the map gave no instruction on how to get in, and he had also feared that had he managed to get into Rivendell the animosity between elves and dwarves would have caused him to be kicked out. He had found the elves a lot more agreeable than his Uncle had ever taught him they were and Kili smiled as he turned back to face the room he had been sleeping in. A lot of the rooms he had passed had been rather open but he was sleeping in one with four solid walls and one rather large window that allowed him a view of the valley but did not allow anyone a view of him.

His clothes had been taken from him to be cleaned of the grime of his journey but Elrond had ordered clothes similar in style to be laid out for him. Kili got dressed in the robes, surprised to find they fit him rather well and made a mental note to thank Elrond for the clothes when he went to talk to him about Fili.

Fili!

Of course he was here for his brother! After a moment of thinking Kili grabbed the book on herbs and plants where he had scribbled Fili's symptoms down and hurried from the room, just remembering to close the door as he did so, neglecting his boots and weapons despite being among elves who he still thought of as an enemy, many years of being told so by Thorin had ingrained the thought deeply in him. He had to find Elrond. He had to find a cure for Fili and get back home as quickly as possible.

Finding Elrond turned out to be a problem as Kili knew nothing of Rivendell or its layout and therefore did not know where the elven Lord would be. The smooth stone floors were cool under his bare feet as he wandered around; glancing into the rooms he passed for a sign of dark haired elf. Eventually he reached an archway of stone that lead to steps descending into a grassy garden area, flowers of all colours blooming in it. Next to the archway was a door. Kili decided to try it to see if it was open, and if it was if anyone was inside.

"Stop!"

Someone shouted at him in elvish and Kili jumped, his hand resting on the door-handle. Turning to face the voice Kili saw another dark haired elf, not Lord Elrond, approaching him looking slightly angry and apprehensive. Kili waited for him to arrive, he didn't need to understand elvish to know that he had been told to wait, or stop, by this elf.

"What are you doing?" The elf asked him again in elvish.

"I don't speak elvish," Kili again explained politely in the common tongue.

The elf blinked, seemingly taking in the fact that there was a dwarf stood in front of him wearing elven made clothes styled after those that dwarves wore. "Ah…from far away you seem like a young man and any young men that stay here usually know elvish." The elf said in the common tongue. "But now I see that you are a dwarf. Why are you here may I ask? Did you take that book from the library?"

"Kili, at your service." Kili replied first before answering the elf's question, remembering his manners this time. "I…I'm looking for Lord Elrond. My brother is sick and I came to ask for some help. I brought this book from my home; I thought it could help me." Kili replied, his hand still on the door.

"Erestor, chief advisor to Lord Elrond at yours." The elf replied. "And you aren't going to find him in there," Erestor commented, "This is the library of Rivendell and…well I am going to clean it up a bit and do not want anybody in there. Come, I shall take you to Lord Elrond's study, he shall probably be there and he can help you."

Kili nodded and followed Erestor as he turned around and walked away from the garden and into the main complex of Rivendell. To Kili it all seemed the same, with occasional corridors leading off, some twisting and some straight, but all of them intricately carved in stone. He had seen major craftsmen work during his forty-five years of live and create some truly amazing things but these halls, they were something else entirely and Kili was so awestruck by them that he didn't realise when Erestor stopped walking and bumped into him.

"Ah, sorry." He muttered.

Erestor turned to him and gestured to the door they were standing in front of.

"This is Lord Elrond's study and he is usually inside." He explained.

Kili nodded and thanked him rather awkwardly, he was unsure if he liked the way Erestor was looking at him. It was not in a sexual way that he had seen in the eyes of the men that he had bartered with late at night before leaving Ered Luin, but there was a mix of emotions there, and Kili could not read them all. Turning his attention to the door Kili knocked and entered, leaving Erestor to sweep off to tidy the library.

Elrond was indeed inside the study, seated at a large oak desk, but he was not alone. A tall elf with long blonde hair was stood inside with him, arms folded and speaking quickly and quietly in elvish. Kili's breath caught in his throat as he recalled how his uncle had described the Elvenking Thranduil who had abandoned the dwarves and Erebor to Smaug. Could it be that this was the same elf? Kili stumbled forward and it was then that the blonde elf noticed him and set his eyes upon him, eyes that sparkled with warmth. He smiled.

"So this is the dwarf?" He asked, the first elf besides Lord Elrond to use the common tongue straight away for Kili's sake so far.

"Yes, Kili is his name." Elrond replied, "He has travelled from Ered Luin to search for a cure for his brother."

"At your service," Kili said, bowing to the blonde elf.

"Glorfindel, at yours." The blonde elf replied with a flourishing bow in response to Kili's. Rather taken aback Kili was unsure what to say. "You bear an uncanny resemblance to Thorin Oakenshield." Glorfindel remarked after a moment of what seemed to be an uncomfortable silence to Kili, though if the elves felt it they did not show it.

Kili gulped. He did not want them to know but he could not just come out and deny his heritage, it was wrong.

"That is because Kili is his nephew Glorfindel." Elrond replied before Kili could say anything. "Quite a ruckus has been caused in Ered Luin because of the disappearance of Thorin Oakenshield's youngest nephew and the Dúnedain that were up there trading at the time brought the news back to Rivendell, in case we spotted him when we were hunting orcs. Glorfindel here is an elven Lord, quite a powerful and well renowned one, none primarily for slaying a Balrog." Elrond explained further why he knew Kili's connection to Thorin when the dwarf sent him a questioning look. The small extra of information on Glorfindel made Kili's eyes widen even more as he heard that this elf had slain Durin's Bane.

"Ah the lad is not wearing any shoes," Glorfindel exclaimed, "Come, sit down and we shall discuss what we can do for your brother."

Kili moved forward slowly and climbed into the offered seat. Glorfindel sank gracefully into another from where he had been standing. Elrond merely shifted his position slightly so he could keep both of them in his vision, elbows resting on his desk, long fingers laced together in front of him. There was silence for a moment before Kili laid the book he had brought on the table in front of them all.

"What is this?" Glorfindel asked. He seemed light and cheery and asked quite a lot of questions, though Kili could see that there were many centuries of wisdom in his eyes and he was obviously quite an old, and powerful, elf. Kili had not assumed that elves that were centuries and centuries old would be curious about anything, but he answered nonetheless.

"It's a book on herbs and medicinal plants that I brought from Ered Luin," he said, "I thought I could search for some of them on the way and perhaps they could help Fili, my brother. I also wrote down his symptoms in the back."

Elrond reached for the book. "May I?" He inquired before touching it.

Kili nodded.

The elven Lord took the book and flicked through it to the back page where Kili's scribbles were. The dwarf worried that the elf would not be able to read his writing but Elrond seemed to have no problems with it.

"Shallow breathing, unconscious most of the time, sweating and fevers, nightmares, disorientation…this is quite a list of symptoms but these are the ones that worry me the most. I have never seen them all appear at once before." Elrond murmured as he read. Kili made to open his mouth and ask if that meant he couldn't heal Fili but Glorfindel smiled at the dwarf and waved his hand in a gesture to keep him silent.

"When Lord Elrond here talks aloud it means he is thinking deeply," The blonde elf whispered, "He is thinking of the best cure for your brother you can be assured of that."

Kili nodded and fell silent, watching as Elrond leafed through the book, smiling every so often at the illustrations and descriptions that had been done throughout. He knew he should be patient, that Elrond would need some time to figure out what to do and to teach Kili himself what to do but part of him felt that he did not have much time to spare.

"Glorfindel," Elrond murmured absently.

"Yes?"

"Take Kili on a tour of Rivendell. I must consult some of my own books to see if the idea I have is the right one. Take him back to his chamber so that he can fetch his shoes first though." Elrond ordered.

Glorfindel stood and nodded. "Come on young Kili."

Kili stood too, with some difficulty since the chair was built for someone as tall as an elf. "Does this mean you have an idea? That Fili could be saved?"

Elrond looked up at Kili and the young dwarf saw many emotions in his eyes, pity, warmth, even something that Kili could only describe as fatherly protection, just like he had with Erestor. _Elves may wear masks of stone but their eyes seem like a gateway to their soul_ , Kili found himself thinking.

"I may have an idea Kili but I will need some time. Please be patient." The raven haired elf finally replied.

"Yes my Lord," Kili murmured. Glorfindel made his way to the door and held it open for Kili. As he was about to leave he remembered that he wanted to thank Elrond for the clothes.

"Thank you for finding me such excellent clothes."

Elrond laughed and shook his head. "You are my guest Kili; I will treat you with the honour and respect all my guests receive, prince or no."

Kili blushed as he left the room, Glorfindel chuckling as he followed suit.

"To your quarters then Kili," The older elf stated, "To get your shoes."

"I'm okay walking around barefoot; it's actually nice because I was beginning to get blisters from running all the time." Kili replied without thinking. Glorfindel looked at him oddly for a minute before laughing and bending down. It took Kili a moment to realise that this elven Lord was removing his own shoes and he watched in shock as the elf neatly left them out of the way of the corridor, hidden in a small nook in the wall.

"You are right. It is a nice day and a stroll in the garden with bare feet would be joyous." Glorfindel said softly and gestured for Kili to follow him.

"I…I never thought that elves would be so nice and accepting," He spoke his thoughts out loud and then took a breath, worried to see how Glorfindel would respond.

To his surprise this elicited another laugh from the golden haired elf.

"Your uncle has been filling your heads with stories about how elves are monstrous creatures that are not to be trusted, liked or even given the time of day I assume?" He inquired.

Kili nodded. "I always believed him because I had never met an elf before," He mused, "But there does not seem to be anything wrong with the elves I have met so far. Except perhaps one named Erestor, he seemed worried that I had taken my book from the library and he did not seem happy about my presence."

Glorfindel smirked. "Erestor is extremely proud of his library, it is an immense collection of books, some quite rare and compiled from papers written in the First Age of this world, when elves were the primary people of this world." He explained, "The thought of someone stealing from his library, or messing it up, is one that would make him rather sharp-tongued, though he is not an elf easily moved to violence."

"Okay. My uncle Thorin is like that with some things too, though he is easily moved to anger and sort of easily moved to violence." Kili admitted almost without thinking then blinked in surprise when he realised what he had said. There was something about Glorfindel that made it easy to talk to him, Kili felt like he could trust him despite all the things he had been told about elves by his uncle.

"I can imagine he has some priceless treasures from Erebor that they managed to save?" Glorfindel inquired.

"I guess so but if he does I have never seen them," Kili replied as they entered the garden. The grass did indeed feel good against his bare feet and Glorfindel smiled wistfully as a light breeze sprung up around them, casting both their hair into the air around them. Kili closed his eyes, enjoying the feel of the cooling wind on his face. "He prizes a few small things, things that belonged to his father, or grandfather, and his brother as well."

"Did you model your relationship with your own brother after the relationship your uncle had with his brother?" Glorfindel asked.

Kili shook his head. He knew he should have felt uncomfortable with an elf asking him so many personal questions but he didn't. Perhaps if it had been any other elf except for Glorfindel he might have done, but with the blonde elf Kili felt like he could trust Glorfindel with the answers.

"I never knew my other uncle; he died in the battle of Azanulbizar. Me and Fili just grew close, because my mum said it was sort of rare for two dwarves to be born so close together." Kili explained.

Glorfindel nodded and stopped walking.

"Would you like to sit here for a bit? Or there are archery fields a little that way," He said, gesturing with his hand beyond the trees flourishing in front of them.

"I am rather good at archery," Kili admitted with a hint of pride in his voice.

Glorfindel raised an eyebrow. "You are? Well, I never knew that dwarves partook in the art of archery, especially a nephew of Thorin Oakenshield. Surely he would think that archery is something used primarily by the elves and would not want his nephew learning it?"

"He did, at first. But then Fili got sick and he was preoccupied by other things as well and he knew that I was upset by Fili being so sick that he had me trained to be a competent archer, because it was something I enjoyed and I could forget for a moment that my older brother was sick." Kili answered truthfully, disregarding what Thorin would think if he knew that his youngest nephew was discussing his softer side with the race that he despised.

"Well then, let's go back to your room and we'll get your archery set and we'll do some practise shall we?" The elf in question suggested and Kili nodded.

As they walked in silence Kili realised that he had not been thinking about Fili, or finding his cure, while he had been talking to Glorfindel and a small amount of guilt washed over him. Thinking about it for a moment Kili thought perhaps that had been Glorfindel's plan all along, to distract him from worrying about his brother while Elrond thought of a solution to the problem.

"How old is your brother Kili?" Glorfindel asked after they had arrived at Kili's quarters, travelling the distance in silence.

"He's fifty." Kili replied shortly, gathering his bow and quiver of arrows and eying his shoes, wondering if he should slip them on or not. Deciding against it Kili straightened up and turned to Glorfindel, nodding that he was ready.

"So you are forty-five then?"

"Yes."

Glorfindel whistled as they retraced their steps to the garden and he led on to the archery practise fields. "It is impressive that you managed to make it to Rivendell at such a young age. I assume you have never left Ered Luin before?"

"No but I stole a map from my uncle." Kili said.

Glorfindel laughed, "I bet he isn't happy about that."

"There are other things that he will be mad about as well," Kili murmured, wondering if his mother had discovered that the statue from Erebor had gone missing.

The two of them lapsed into silence again as they reached the fields. Two dark haired elves were already there, shooting with speed and precision that could only come from elves. Kili recognised them as the twins, Elladan and Elrohir if he remembered correctly from when he had arrived at Rivendell.

"Hello you two!" Glorfindel called as he approached. The twins turned to the elven Lord and smiled, raising their hands in greeting. "Did you dispatch with all the orcs on the borders?"

"There was no need," One of the twins replied, Kili could not tell them apart, "When we ventured over the plains we found twenty-five orcs dead from arrow wounds and the others were nowhere to be found, they had evidently run off."

"Twenty-five dead from arrow wounds?" Glorfindel inquired, "I wonder who killed them."

For the moment it seemed the golden haired elf had forgotten that Kili was an archer, but then Kili had not told Glorfindel that he had battled orcs before arriving in Rivendell.

"We wondered as well," The other twin said, shooting an arrow dead centre without looking properly. "So we brought one of the arrows back for examination so we could determine."

Glorfindel took the arrow from the twins and examined it. Kili decided it was time he told them.

"I did it." He said quietly. They did not seem to hear him at first. "I killed them!" He said louder.

"You did-?" One of the twins asked, then did a double take when he took in the sight of Kili before him, evidently remembering him. "Hey 'Ro, isn't that the dwarf we met yesterday?"

"Yeah Elladan," Elrohir answered, now that they had cleared up the confusion of which was which. "You are a talented archer to have been able to avoid getting seriously hurt and kill that many orcs, especially since you're a young dwarf."

Kili decided he was annoyed that all the elves seem to know he was a young dwarf, but he blamed it on the fact that he did not have a beard, which was a sign of full growth in dwarves. It wasn't his fault it hadn't started growing properly yet and to Kili it was a source of embarrassment.

"Hmm, that really is impressive Kili," Glorfindel said happily, patting Kili's shoulder in what the dwarf assumed was a praising way. "Why don't you show off your skills to us now you aren't under fear of death?"

"Okay."

"Before he does." The twins said together, "Let us introduce ourselves properly."

Kili nodded and waited as the twins put down their bows and came to stand in front of him.

"Elladan, son of Elrond, at your service," One twin said, bowing to Kili, using the dwarf fashion of introductions as if that might make Kili more comfortable. To his surprise it did, not that he had been extremely uncomfortable beforehand.

"Elrohir, son of Elrond, at your service," The other twin repeated with the same bow.

"Kili, son of Dis, nephew of Thorin Oakenshield at yours," Kili replied, giving them the same bow. There was no use hiding it now, Elrond knew of his heritage, as did Glorfindel, so Kili assumed that Elrond would tell his sons eventually who Kili was. Their widening eyes signalled to him that they hadn't know previous to this.

"Why are you not wearing shoes?" Elrohir asked rather randomly as Elladan opened his mouth to ask a question as well.

"I…I rushed out of my room this morning to find Lord Elrond and ask him about a cure for my brother, I didn't even think of shoes." Kili answered earnestly.

"And I merely followed suit when Kili decided that going without shoes was more comfortable after days of travelling," Glorfindel said breezily, grinning and stretching. "Come, let's get practising."

"You don't need to practice Glorfindel; you've had two Ages to get good at it." Elladan moaned with a short laugh.

"We will defeat you though. And Legolas would definitely be able to give you a run for your money; I have never seen such a good shooter before." Elrohir added.

Kili left the elves to their discussions and headed for the line drawn in the dirt, signalling the line that was to be shot from. The line was a little closer in Ered Luin to take into account that the arms of a dwarf were shorter than that of a man or an elf, but Kili was fine to try it from a shorter distance, with a taller target. None of the three elves noticed him lining up and drawing an arrow from his quiver, they were still discussing 'Legolas' and his abilities at shooting.

"Lord Thranduil told me about his son's skills," Glorfindel said after a moment Kili froze. Thranduil? The Elvenking? Why it surprised him that someone who had been named a great elven Lord like Glorfindel knew other elven Lords Kili was unsure, but Thranduil and the elves had been the subject of many rants from Thorin that hearing the name said in such a friendly way was strange for Kili.  
"He claims that they will one day rival Beleg's though this cannot be tested." Glorfindel continued.

Kili shut their conversation out and focussed on the targets in front of him. Knocking an arrow Kili drew it back to his chin. When he was firing arrows it was the only time the dwarf was glad he did not have a beard, for he 'kissed the arrow' and if the shaft was caught in his beard before he fired it would be painful. Closing his eyes Kili drew a breath and pictured Fili's face. It was something he always did when he was practising archery, especially after Fili had gotten ill; it helped him to focus because he wanted to get good at archery for Fili. Releasing the string without opening his eyes Kili waited until he heard the thud of the arrow in the target before opening his eyes slowly. He found Elladan, Elrohir and Glorfindel looking at him in awe. Turning his attention to the targets Kili saw he had hit near enough dead centre and had dislodged the arrows Elladan and Elrohir had fired there before with the force of his hit.

"That was…amazing," Glorfindel said after a moment, "Truly amazing."

"I can't believe he did that with his eyes closed," Elladan exclaimed, "I was going to suggest that we made a line closer to the targets for him to take into account the length of his arm but apparently we don't need to."

Kili felt his heart swell with the praise and smiled softly.

"No wonder so many orcs fell to him," Elrohir added with a laugh.

The twins came over and joined Kili and they decided to direct him in the ways that an elf would hold and shoot his bow. Kili knew he would probably not use the elvish technique but he found that it was fun to use. Glorfindel watched on from the side, a faint smile on his lips as he watched the three interact easily with each other. _Looking at this scene_ , he thought, _you would never guess that was animosity between dwarves and elves_.

Hours went by as Kili, Elladan and Elrohir practised. Out of the corner of his eye Glorfindel saw Elrond walking towards them and headed over to the elven Lord before he reached his sons and Kili practising somewhat happily.

"Please tell me it is good news," He requested in elvish.

Elrond smiled sadly, "Have you developed a soft spot for Thorin Oakenshield's nephew Glorfindel?"

"He is so dedicated to his family but he is also willing to learn from a race I am sure he was been taught to hate from birth." Glorfindel said, almost defensively. "I would not want to tell anyone that they could not save their brother either." The elven Lord added as an afterthought.

"It is a good thing we do not have to then," Elrond told him, still wearing a sad smile.

"This is joyous news, why is it you look so upset?" Glorfindel asked, unsure if he should break out into a smile or not.

"I do not know if the cure I have found will work so long after the illness has set in. Kili scribbled down the number twenty after the symptoms and I assume this means that Fili had been sick for twenty years at least. To be sick for that long…it is amazing the boy is still alive. If it weren't for Kili he wouldn't be." Elrond explained.

Glorfindel looked at Kili, who had not noticed Elrond approach them. "Perhaps Fili is just as dedicated to his family as his brother is." He said, seemingly having missed what Elrond had said last.

"That is not the problem. I can easily teach Kili what to do, for the cure is actually not that complicated, but it is whether the boy will react to it, and if Kili can accept this or not." Elrond sighed softly.

"You can't save them all you know. It is the curse that Eru put into the song." Glorfindel said firmly, placing a hand on Elrond's shoulder.

"Yes I know but it would be nice not to have to tell someone like Kili, who is so dependent on his brother living, that there may be no way to save him." Elrond admitted.

Glorfindel cocked his head in confusion, "What do you mean? Kili seems fine, how is dependent on his brother?"

"They are soul mates in the purest form of the words." Elrond said. "There is no sexual element to it. Fili and Kili are like one soul separated into two bodies and they require each other to live. Fili has not died because Kili is still alive and he knows that Kili needs him. There is no way that Kili would survive where Fili to die and Fili can sense this, no matter how sick he gets and so he has fought with this illness for twenty years. Kili and Fili were born to be together forever, whether they get married to other people they will always have the strongest bond and no force on Arda could separate them." Elrond continued with sadness laced into his words.

"Wow," Glorfindel whispered, "It would be terrible if that ever happened to anyone. We must tell him you have found a cure Elrond, and mention in passing that it might take some time to work on Fili because has been so ill and there is a possibility that it might not work at all." He mused, "Kili will be so determined that it will work that even he does take heed of the words he will not believe them."

"I hope you are right." Elrond muttered.

At that moment Elladan noticed the two elves stood there and called out. "Ada you should see Kili's skills with a bow, I have never seen a dwarf so good."

"That's because you've never seen any other dwarves shoot." Elrohir laughed.

Kili had abandoned the targets, still clutching his bow and a single arrow dangling uselessly from his hand, eyes wide at the looks on the elves' faces.

"Lord Elrond, did you find a cure?" He asked so quickly that he stumbled over his words and Elrond had to ask him to repeat himself.

"I have found a cure Kili," He replied.

"Really? Can you teach me it? It is possible for me to learn? Please tell me it is." Kili cried.

Glorfindel had to hold back a smile at the enthusiasm on the young boy's face.

"I can teach you it Kili, but you have to listen to me for a moment," Elrond said firmly. Kili blinked. If there was a cure then he didn't have time to listen to any words except those that were teaching him the cure, but Elrond wore a serious expression so Kili said nothing and nodded. Elladan and Elrohir approached as Elrond began talking again. "Your brother has been sick for twenty years correct?"

"Yes," Kili confirmed.

"It may be difficult, almost impossible, to be able to heal him because he has been ill for so long-."

I don't believe that!" Kili cried. He didn't care if he had just rudely interrupted someone who had only ever been polite to him; there was no way he was going to allow thoughts like that to pervade his mind. If he thought negative thoughts about not being able to cure Fili then this whole journey was for naught. Elrond surely understood this?

Glorfindel saw the torment in Kili's eyes and decided to come to the rescue. "Listen Kili, Lord Elrond is not telling you this to make you depressed, he is merely trying to warn you. He knows that you are so confident that it will work that you will not heed his words, but please, just take this information in."

Kili blinked and shook his head. "I cannot. If I accept that there is a chance that I cannot cure Fili then I will have made this journey for no reason. I will have left my brother alone for no reason…and I cannot allow that."

Elrond smiled and placed a hand on Kili's shoulder. "Come with me then and I shall talk you through the cure and how to make it."

Kili nodded and followed Elrond with his head held high.

/ 

Dis held back a sigh as she watched over Fili. There was still no sign of a change in his demeanour and she was worried about whether it was a good sign or not. Thorin was in the kitchen of her house looking for some clean towels after filling a bowl with cold water.

"Dis!" Thorin's cry came down the hall and Dis stood, kissed Fili's forehead and then left to head to Thorin and answer his call. She found her brother stood beside the small table that had been placed in the kitchen to hold the statue from Erebor, the one that both of them prised. It was empty. Dis' breath caught in her throat. Where could it have gone? Could Kili have taken it? Why would he do that?

"Do you think that Kili-?" She asked quietly.

"I think he stole it and sold it," Thorin said somewhat harshly. He was angry at his nephew for taking something as precious as that, something that remained of Erebor here near to the sea, as far away east from Erebor as they could get without entering the realms below the White Mountains.

"Thorin I-." Dis began but Thorin held up a hand for her to stop talking. Dis could see him shaking.

"Did Kili not know the importance of that statue?" Thorin asked quietly. Dis was worried. Thorin's quiet anger was worse than when he was yelling and since Kili was not here for Thorin to take his anger out on him Dis was concerned about what her brother would do. It seemed however that Thorin was trying to reign in his anger due to Kili's absence.

"He does Thorin. He learnt it on the day when he brought it to you and asked you what it was." Dis soothed her brother carefully, eying the corridor that led to Fili's room. She had left the door open and did not want Fili to hear Thorin angry at his brother. "It is clear why he did this Thorin."

"He did this because he cares more about the future of his brother than the past of his ancestors," Thorin stated simply. He did not sound angry; there was no emotion in his voice at all.

"Should it not be like that Thorin? Kili understands the importance of his lineage and the sacrifice that was made by countless dwarves fighting both Smaug and the orcs at Azanulbizar. But he will not put that before Fili's life." Dis defended Kili's decision even though she had loved that statue and understood what it meant to Thorin.

"I know. I would have given anything in the world to protect you, or Frerin." Thorin agreed. Dis opened her mouth to argue on Kili's behalf before she realised that Thorin had agreed with her. "Kili is showing his intelligence and his ability to be able to think ahead and plan. It seems that when it comes to Fili he becomes an entirely different person." Thorin continued. "It will take a while to get over, that was a little piece of Erebor that we had saved, but I can forgive Kili for using it to save his brother. The punishment we deal out to him for running away can include a punishment for this."

Dis smirked. "No, I will decide his punishment, his is my son. I will take into account your words brother, but you will have no say in what happens to Kili. I know you will just be glad to have him home."

"Of course I will." Thorin snapped, then tiredly ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry."

Smiling sympathetically Dis hugged Thorin and kissed his cheek. "How about you go and sit with Fili and I will make us some food? We need to try and continue to live normally, for Fili and for Kili when he comes home." She suggested.

Thorin did not argue with her, merely nodding and giving her a tight hug. "He will return soon Dis, I know he will."

Dis did not speak. She pulled back from her brother and pushed him down the halls with a wan smile, turning to the kitchen herself and rooting for any food that she had to make them a small snack.


	5. Hello Goodbye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kili is stressed out because he can't seem to get the cure right and he has some bonding time with Glorfindel and learns a bit more about elven culture. Glorfindel tries (and fails) to help Kili see why Thranduil did what he did when Smaug attacked Erebor (based off the movie) and placates him with the story of how he became a Balrog Slayer. Just some nice old elf, young dwarf bonding.  
> Bofur, Oin and Dwalin come back into and meet Elladan and Elrohir, are they close to finding Kili now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is some controversy as to whether the Glorfindel of Rivendell is the same Glorfindel from Gondolin who defeated a Balrog, but I believe that they are the same person for various reasons. I guess this is kind of the build up chapter to the big finale, as many things happen in this chapter xD 
> 
> A/N.
> 
> Namaarie = Farewell

### Hello Goodbye

"It's not working!" Kili cried in anger, pushing the pestle and mortar away from him and folding his arms on the table in front of him, refusing to do anymore. He had never assumed that making a cure for Fili would have been so hard but for some reason it was. To him, it was grinding for ingredients together, mixing them with clean, hot water and therefore making a drink that would potentially cure Fili, but he was having difficulty grinding the ingredients together perfectly. Elrond had told him that if they were not ground to the right consistency then the cure would not work, but if he overground them then it would have the same effect and the cure would not take effect. Kili had yet to find the perfect balance, even though Elrond made it look easy.

"Kili you must be patient, I do not have an infinite supply of these ingredients," Elrond said calmly, taking the mortar from Kili and inspecting the mush of plants in the bottom. "You are grinding them too hard still; it is not about brute strength but about patience and a kind hand."

Kili leaned back in his chair as Elrond spoke and made a noise of despair. It had been a week already and Kili had been with Elrond everyday trying to perfect the cure. Elrond had offered to grind them together for him and send him on his way home but Kili had refused. If something happened to him on the road and he lost the cure what would he do then, he would not know how to make another one and everything he had done would have been for nothing. Glorfindel, Elladan and Elrohir had been gone for the entire week, searching for any other parties of orcs that dared to come close to Rivendell and, unbeknownst to Kili, searching for the four plants that made up the cure.

"How can something so simple be so difficult to make?" He asked quietly.

Elrond smiled sympathetically and returned the mortar to Kili. He had cleaned the contents from it, ready for Kili to start again.  


"Kingsfoil is easy to grind up, the leaves are thin and though hardy, under a pestle it will become like dust in a matter of minutes, that it why you add it last. Hemlock is different; it is thick and strong and must be added first because it needs the most amount of pressure on it. Whin, or Gorse, is needed second, for though only slightly tougher than Kingsfoil the mixture of pure Whin and Hemlock is important for the cure. Thyme goes third and crushes easily. You are getting too carried away, Master Dwarf, when it comes to adding the third and fourth ingredient, because you are excited that the cure is nearly finished. You need to clear your head and concentrate, only then will you able to produce the proper finished product."

Rubbing his eyes Kili nodded. He had heard this speech many times over the past week for many times had he grown angry with his own work and refused to do anymore. Elrond merely kept on gently guiding him on how to get it right and patiently allowed him to get angry, to calm down and to try again. Kili had been surprised by this at first, for Elladan and Elrohir had told him that Elrond could become a force to be reckoned with if angered, but he had grown used to it now.

"How about a break, Kili, before we continue?" Elrond suggested.

Kili nodded again, yawning.

"I suggest you get more sleep, and if you have trouble request a sleeping draught. You will not succeed with this cure if you are clumsy and lethargic." Elrond added.

Kili did not respond to this, merely slid from his chair and exited the room. Elrond watched him leave, his expression blank.

Kili did not know where he wanted to go but he let his feet carry him forward until eventually he ended up in the garden that he and Glorfindel had walked in barefoot on his first proper day in Rivendell. Nobody was there this time but Kili didn't care, he felt comfortable being alone right now. The grass looked inviting, the blades wavering in the light breeze and Kili collapsed down onto the floor, arms outstretched and eyes closed. Would he be able to succeed in making this cure? Whenever he was attempting to mix the ingredients together to make the cure he thought of Fili and a mixture of emotions passed through him and that made it very hard to do things gently like Elrond told him to. He hadn't told Elrond this at all because he wasn't sure how the elven Lord would take it, or how he would advise Kili on ways to deal with it. Lying in the midst of the garden Kili took a deep breath of the sweet air fluttering around him and thought of Ered Luin, of Fili and his mother waiting for him to return and guilt lurched in his stomach. Trying to clear his mind Kili drifted off into a rather uncomfortable sleep.

_"What's wrong Kili?" Fili's voice asked from beside him._

_"Fili?" Kili asked, turning his head towards the sound of Fili's voice but found he could not open his eyes to look at his brother._

_"Hush little brother," Fili soothed, "Tell me what's wrong."_

_"I'm afraid I won't be able to save you Fili," Kili whispered, "I'm afraid that I can't."_

_Fili laughed. "Come home to me Kili, alive and well, and I'll be fine."_

_"No Fili you won't." Kili cried. "You won't be fine at all. Elrond can help me cure you and I can't do it!"_

_"Don't be childish Kili," Fili snapped, "I know that you've spent twenty years by my bedside doing nothing at all but trying to look after me and that that is a long period of your childhood but this is not the time for such childish words,"_

_Kili knew that if he could open his eyes he would have blinked in shock. Fili rarely got angry with him. It had happened often when Kili had just been born and had been eager to try and do things that a young dwarf had been unable to do and Fili had gotten in trouble for letting Kili do these things, but as soon as Kili was old enough to take the blame himself Fili had stopped getting angry at him._

_"Fili-."_

_"No Kili, you can do this." Fili said firmly. "And I won't hear anything different. Remember all those times when you were young and everybody told you there were some things that you couldn't do? You would always try and try to do them just to prove everybody wrong, but most of the time you failed. No matter how many times you failed you carried on trying until eventually you did actually succeed. And everyone was so surprised. Why should this be any different?"_

_Kili blanched at Fili's words but found he smiled anyway. His brother was right; all those times in the past Kili had tried to achieve the impossible and had never accepted anyone who told him that he would never succeed. Nobody was telling him this time that he could not make this cure, he was the only one telling himself that he would fail. He had to believe it himself._

In shock at the realisation in his dream Kili's eyes flew open and he winced as the light from the clear blue sky above him penetrated his vision. Exhaling deeply Kili rolled onto his side and almost jumped out of his skin when he saw blonde hair fanned out on the grass beside him. It took him a moment for Kili to realise that it was Glorfindel and Kili smiled widely. It had been the first time he had seen the blonde elven lord for the week he had been here and Kili had missed him, though he was not sure if he wanted to admit it.

"Do you have a habit of sleeping outside Kili?" The blonde asked, eyes closed but mouth turned up in a smile.

"No," Kili answered sheepishly, "But I feel safe in Rivendell."

Glorfindel chuckled and turned his face to Kili, opening his eyes and surveying the young dwarf. "Well I'd say that you are but with those little rascals running around no one is safe."

Kili did not need any explanation to know that Glorfindel was referring to Elrond's twin sons and felt himself smiling again.

"I heard from Lord Elrond that you are having issues getting the cure right," Glorfindel said casually, stretching gracefully and turning his face back to the sky.

Kili blushed and turned away. "I was. I think I can do it now."

"Oh?"

"I had a dream about my brother and he told me off for being so childish." The dwarf admitted softly, blinking in shock when he realised that he had actually told the elf something quite personal.

"It sounds like something a brother would do," Glorfindel laughed, "Are you sure it was a dream?"

"I'm not sure I understand what you're asking." Kili answered straight away.

Glorfindel sat up and turned around on the grass so he was sat cross-legged opposite Kili, brushing his blonde hair over his shoulders to keep it out of the way. "Some elves are born with the gift of foresight and can see into the future. On rare occasions, if a pair of elves has an extremely strong bond, such as marriage or family, they can envision this particular elf's fea and they can talk together." The elven lord explained.

Kili's eyes were wide when Glorfindel had finished his explanation. He had never known that foresight existed and he had absolutely no idea whether the same thing was born within dwarves as well. He had an extremely strong bond with Fili, was it possible that he had called Fili's fea to Rivendell because he needed confidence?

"I understand that elves, or people, with familial bonds would have fea that is very close but how do two that get married have fea that are close?" Kili asked. Thorin had explained to him once about the bond between two married dwarves but Kili had been quite young when he had done so and Kili had forgotten a lot it.

"Well an elven marriage is consummated by sex. The best way I can describe it is the fea of the two elves bonding and bringing them closer together. I am not sure if this is what happens between other races, I know that it is impossible for this to happen between races. Once the two elves are married they have an extremely strong bond, they can rely on each other for life force if needed, and love and support and they are bonded for life unless of course in the rare occasion that one of the elves dies. Elves do not remarry, although there are rare occasions of that happening as well." Glorfindel explained, trying to keep it rather basic, not wanting to confuse Kili with an in depth explanation about the ins and outs of elven marriage. Kili had listened with a rather blank expression and Glorfindel waited now for his response.

"I never knew that," Was the dwarf's rather basic reply and Glorfindel laughed.

"I do not doubt it, considering your uncle hatred of elves," The elven lord chuckled. Kili grinned as well and shrugged his shoulders.

"From the way I have been treated here I don't understand why he does hate the elves." Kili mused. Glorfindel remained silent, waiting for the boy to continue, he evidently had more to say.  
"Well I understand why he hates the King of Greenwood because he did not offer help during the attack of Smaug and offered no help afterwards but-."

"May I say something my dear Kili?" Glorfindel interrupted gently, palms raised upwards so as not to cause offence to the young dwarf. Kili did not look offended, merely nodded his approval and fell silent.  


"I do not mean this as an attack on your uncle, or the dwarves of Erebor themselves, and yes, you may think I am defending Thranduil because he is my friend, but there is a clear reason why Thranduil did not help when a dragon attacked the mountain."

Kili did not speak but his face had taken a rather dark look to it reminiscent of his uncle.

Glorfindel decided to continue with care. "If the dwarves of Erebor were not able to withstand the attacks of a dragon, strong and determined as they were, what would the elves have been able to do? Thranduil was not about to needlessly risk the lives of his kin, some of whom had been alive for millennia, because of a dragon which could not have been defeated by the elves even if they had wished for it."

"You are just defending him because he's your friend." Kili snapped.

"Well yes I am his friend Kili and I do not like seeing him framed as a criminal for a logical choice that he made." Glorfindel replied quickly, keeping his voice calm.

"But he abandoned them. Why bring an army at all?" Kili asked.

Glorfindel smiled and shook his head. "I can tell we are never going to see eye to eye Kili, so why not leave this conversation for another time?"

"I suppose so," Kili muttered.

The two sat in silence, each musing over their own thoughts.

"I remember when I first met you that Lord Elrond said you had slain a Balrog." Kili broke the silence almost accidently, causing Glorfindel to glance up at him and smile. "Can you tell me the story?" Kili asked.

"I can tell you a simplified version of it I guess," Glorfindel agreed, "If I told you the entire story it would take quite a while."

"We have time."

"No Kili, we do not have all the time in the world. Well, you do not anyway, your brother needs you. But I will tell you a section of the story that will not take long." Glorfindel laughed.  
"I lived in Gondolin in the First Age of this world, when there were more elves in Arda then there are today. This elven city was assailed by many dark creatures during the First Age, the details of which I am sure you can learn at any other time should you wish, but as for my part, I helped the exiles flee, saving many of them. This was when I faced the Balrog. We fought for a very long time, and I eventually managed to slay him, but as he fell he managed to grab my hair."

Kili snorted with laughter despite himself. "I'm sorry, really I am." He coughed, "I don't mean to laugh at your death but I…I was imagining something slightly more heroic."

Glorfindel smiled despite himself and shook his head, "Do not worry, it is rather silly considering all the deaths that it could have been. You are young, you will learn. Now, do you want to know the rest of the story?"

Kili nodded.

"I died," Glorfindel said simply.

Kili gawped at him.

"You died?"

"Yes."

"Then…how are you alive?" The dwarf asked.

Glorfindel laughed, "That, Kili, is my little secret. Though I have to admit being the only person I believe in the entirety of Middle Earth to have a grave and yet be alive is rather amusing to me."

"That is just…confusing." Kili murmured, his face a little scrunched up as he tried to process the fact that he was talking to an elf that had once been dead. "I should go back to Lord Elrond," Kili said after a moment, giving up on his attempt to understand how Glorfindel was sat before him now.

"Of course, of you go." Glorfindel agreed. As Kili hurried away from him Glorfindel tilted his head to look at the sky and couldn't resist but give a little laugh and wished that Middle Earth was this peaceful all the time, under a clear blue sky.

/ 

"Thorin will not be happy with us," Bofur commented rather sadly as the three dwarves trudged slowly back towards Ered Luin. They had followed the orcs trail as far as the Misty Mountains and when they had arrived at their base Oin and Bofur had openly said that they should return to Ered Luin.

"There was nothing we could do after the Misty Mountains lad," Oin said matter/of/factly, "We aren't equipped to cross them and I doubt that Kili, even if he is naïve, would have attempted it either. The orcs got him, or we missed his trail."

"Then we will keep an eye out for it when we return," Dwalin growled. He took this loss harder than the other two did for he had been by Kili's side since he had been born. The two other dwarves knew this and fell silent, each hoping that they had just missed Kili's trail and that the young dwarf had not been taken by orcs.

Dwalin, Bofur and Oin found themselves quickly back among the rocks where the orcs had attacked them and all three of them had their eyes peeled for any signs of Kili escaping the clutches of the orcs.

"Stop where you are!" A voice cried as Dwalin bent down to check some footprints pressed into the dirt.

"Dwarves again? This can't be a coincidence," Another voice laughed as the sound of hooves approached them.

Dwalin glanced around for a sign of where the voices were coming from but found none. Evidently whoever was tracking them, elves from the fair sound of their voices, knew this terrain well and were keeping hidden.

"Perhaps there are looking for the small dwarf that is currently staying with us?" The first voice inquired.

"What have you done with him?!" Dwalin asked angrily.

The two voices laughed simultaneously and from behind rather sharp rocks came two dark haired elves, both astride dark brown horses and both with smirks on their faces.

"He is quite safe, my dear dwarves do not worry," One of the elves stated, "If we are talking about the same dwarf of course."

"We will not reveal which dwarf we are looking for," Dwalin growled, "Until you take us to see this dwarf you have captured!"

"Captured indeed," One of the elves snorted in laughter, "Our father Lord Elrond is helping him."

"But we will take you to Rivendell to see this dwarf." The other one continued, "If you would follow us."

Dwalin, Bofur and Oin exchanged a glance, none of them wanted to pass up this chance to see if this dwarf was indeed Kili, but none of them trusted these two elves. Watching the dark haired elves walk away Dwalin gave a short nod to the other two and, clutching their weapons, they followed the elves warily.

/ 

"Kili I do believe that you have done it," Elrond exclaimed approvingly as he examined the contents of the mortar. "This is mixed perfectly, and when mixed with hot water would make the perfect cure."

When the words had sunk in Kili jumped from his chair and made a 'whooping' sound, nearly upsetting the content of the bowl in his enthusiasm. This was his fourth attempt in the afternoon after his chat with Glorfindel and his dream about Fili and to hear that he had finally succeeded was amazing. Elrond waited patiently until the young dwarf's excitement had subsided.

"You have succeeded once to make it Kili, now you must learn how to tell when it is indeed correct for yourself so when you make this cure back in Ered Luin you do not fail," The elven Lord eventually managed to say when Kili had retaken his seat. Kili's eyes were shining and he wore a wide smile, whatever he had to do now could not be as difficult as it had been learning to make the cure, he would gladly do anything, anything, now that he could make it.

As Elrond opened his mouth to advise Kili in the proper way to recognise when the cure was complete a cry of "Ada!" sounded from outside the room. Elrond stood immediately.

"It seems my sons have returned. Please wait here Kili I will be back shortly."

Kili had no intention of staying put, he wanted to find Glorfindel and tell him that he had succeeded after all. Elrond said nothing as Kili followed him to the door, holding it open for him to exit. The sight that waited for them was a shocking one. Dwalin, Bofur and Oin stood outside Elrond's study, each looking dishevelled and annoyed and wary, clutching their weapons tightly. Elladan and Elrohir stood on either side of them, almost like guards, but their demeanours were relaxed and they wore identical smiles. Before anybody could speak Dwalin spotted Kili standing behind Elrond, clad in the dwarven style elvish silks he had been provided with for the entire week of his stay and gave a great shout, of anger or happiness Kili could not tell but he soon found himself in the embrace of the dwarven warrior.

"We thought that the orcs had gotten you lad," Dwalin exclaimed when he pulled back as explanation for his actions. Kili was speechless as Bofur and Oin both hugged him tightly as well. With the 'pleasantries' out of the way Dwalin adopted a serious expression and Kili knew that the older dwarf was extremely angry with him. Before he could start yelling Elrond had bowed to the dwarves, distracting them from Kili for a moment.

"Welcome to Rivendell," He said gently, "Can I offer you food and water before you shout at young Kili for running away from home?"

Slightly taken aback by this rather gracious offer from the raven haired lord Dwalin, Bofur and Oin discussed it and decided to accept it. Kili wanted to run in the opposite direction, find Glorfindel and use the golden haired elf as a shield against Dwalin's wrath but he did not have a chance to do so as Dwalin swung an arm around Kili's shoulder and pulled him along with the other three dwarves.

Seated at a rather large table in Rivendell's dining room Dwalin requested that Kili tell them about his journey and his time in Rivendell while they ate. Kili did so, knowing it was more of an order than a request, and took them through everything, from deciding to leave Ered Luin, how he had gotten his supplies, and how he had chosen the path he would take. He explained his way through the fight he had had with the orcs and how he had found the secret way into Rivendell accidently when he had been injured. He carefully made it clear that the elves had been nothing but accommodating to him, giving him the finest food, clothes and chambers and how Elrond had suffered his anger for a week while trying to teach him how to cure Fili. With pride in his voice Kili finished by telling them that he had succeeded and would soon be ready to go home.

"We'll go home tomorrow," Dwalin stated firmly, "Your mother is worried sick, as is your uncle Thorin, we will not keep you apart a moment longer."

"No," Kili shouted. Bofur and Oin exchanged a glance. Neither of them would have liked to be on Dwalin's bad side and saying no to the dwarf seemed like a bad idea to them. "I still have some things to learn regarding Fili," Kili continued angrily, "And I will not leave Rivendell until I am one hundred percent ready to heal him." With that said the young dwarf stalked from the room. Elrond, Elladan and Elrohir decided to follow him, leaving Bofur, Oin and Dwalin alone.

"We cannot return to Ered Luin without him, not now we know where he is." Dwalin admitted after a moment, "So we must wait until the lad has completed this…cure for his brother."

"It isn't all bad Dwalin," Bofur said, stifling a yawn behind his hand, "At least we know that the lad is safe and sound and we can take 'im home as soon as he's done 'ere."

"I'm going to go and find the lad and find out what happened to my book." Oin added, getting up from the table and leaving the room. Bofur rested his head on the table, absently picking at the food that had been brought to them.

/ 

"Kili lad slow down," Oin called as he spotted Kili striding through a small garden, hands tightened into fists in his anger. The dwarf turned when he heard Oin's voice and looked at his follower, waiting for the older dwarf to catch up with him.  
"Now I've got a question for you laddie," Oin continued when he finally drew level with Kili.

"Yes sir?"

"What did you do with my book? The one on healing plants and medicinal herbs?" Oin asked.

"Ah, Lord Elrond looked through it; it should still be in his study." Kili replied instantly, "It had been treated with care Oin, do not worry. We can go and get it."

"Lead the way," Oin agreed. Kili did so with an air of confidence about him, he had evidently visited this study many times before and during his weeks stay at Rivendell had perfected his knowledge of the ins and outs of the elven haven. Oin was sure that Thorin was not going to be impressed when he learned that Kili had spent a week asking for help from the elves, but the boy had shown clear initiative and bravery, two aspects needed in a great leader. Kili knocked on the study door when they arrived and entered when Elrond bade them to from within. Oin followed him warily.

"Ah Master Kili and a friend," Elrond greeted them, "What can I do for you?"

"Oin, at your service," Oin said straight away, knowing that this elf did not know his name.

"Lord Elrond of Rivendell at yours." Elrond replied courteously. "I wanted to have a word with you, Master Oin, about this wonderful book that Kili here brought with him."

"What about it?" Oin growled. Kili had seated himself at the table beside Elrond and was currently mixing together several ingredients, evidently the plants that would make up the cure.

"A few of the ingredients that I have added to this cure are not in this book. Kili has recently succeeded in making the cure for his brother and I have been trying to come up with an excuse for him so he does not have to tell his uncle Thorin that he has spent a week in the company of elves." Elrond began. Kili looked up, surprised. Elves were really good at hiding their true thoughts and feelings; he had had no idea that Elrond had been doing anything like that. "I am going to assume that Thorin does not look into this book very often, so will not know what plants and herbs are in this book?"

"That is true," Oin admitted, "So you want me to add these plants I assume?"

"Yes," Elrond said simply. "I want you to add these plants and their medicinal properties to the book, and also the locations where they are found, just in case Thorin wants to check. All of the plants I have used for this cure can be found around Ered Luin all the way up to the Misty Mountains, there is no reason for Kili to admit that he has been in Rivendell."

"But…just say that we come here in the future, with my Uncle," Kili added suddenly, "Will the elves that I have met not recognise me and make it evident I have been here before?"

"In the unlikely event that you do return to Rivendell with your uncle do not worry Kili, I will talk to the elves you have met myself and none of them will act as if they have seen you before." Elrond replied swiftly and confidently, with a warm smile which Kili returned.

"I will do as you ask," Oin said loudly, "I will add these new herbs to my book and back up Kili's story."

"Thank you," Kili murmured.

"Don't thank me just yet lad," Oin said, "Go and try and convince Bofur and Dwalin."

Kili nodded and smiled, slipping from his chair. Oin seated himself in it as Kili exited the room and wandered back towards the dining hall, hoping Dwalin and Bofur were still there. They were. Kili approached the table and firstly apologised to Dwalin for his harsh tone earlier. Dwalin accepted the apology with question.

"I have something to put to you, an idea that will have us avoid telling uncle Thorin where we…where I have been." Kili admitted, "I ask that you hear me out before making any sort of decision about this idea."

/ 

A day later Kili had decided he was ready to go home. Each time he tried to make the cure after the first time he had succeeded was a success again, so Elrond decided that he did not need to teach Kili how to tell the cure was done, the boy was ready. Dwalin and Bofur had both agreed to go along with the story, deciding that they had missed Kili's trail after being ambushed by orcs and followed them to the Misty Mountains. They had run into Kili on their way back from these mountains and had dragged him back to Ered Luin as soon as they had found him. Dwalin, Bofur and Oin were waiting with Elrond, Elladan and Elrohir at the edge of the main exit to Rivendell but Kili was searching through the gardens of the realm for one particular elf. He found the blonde coming out of the library with a smile plastered to his face.

"Glorfindel!" Kili cried, running to him, his boots clacking on the floor loudly. Glorfindel turned at the sound of his name and smiled widely as Kili approached him.

"Well to what do I owe this pleasure?" He inquired as Kili skidded to a halt in front of him, balancing himself on the arm that Glorfindel offered.

"I'm leaving soon." Kili explained, "And I wanted to come and thank you for all that you've done while I've been here. And to say goodbye."

Glorfindel tilted his head to the side and smiled a rather sad smile, "It's such a shame you have to leave, I've really enjoyed having you here Kili." The elf stated. Kili nodded, biting his lip and looking up at the elf with well-trained puppy eyes. Glorfindel laughed, used to such tactics as this for the twin sons of Elrond had done the same when they were younger. Opening his arms Glorfindel hugged Kili tightly and Kili unashamedly hugged him back, gripping his robe and smiling.

"I'll miss you." He muttered.

"I'll miss you too Kili. Do not worry, we will meet again." The blonde elven Lord stated firmly, pushing Kili back and offering him a smile. "Be strong Kili and go and help your brother. And remember, if you ever feel like running away again, I'll always be in Rivendell. Well, unless I'm not."

Kili laughed and nodded. "Goodbye Glorfindel." He said, bowing deeply to the elf before turning around and running off, knowing that if he kept Dwalin waiting for too long the dwarf would be annoyed with him.

"Namaarie." Glorfindel murmured.

/ 

"Hurry up Kili!" Bofur called as the dwarf ran towards them. Kili waved an arm once but did not move at a quicker pace, already running towards them. When he reached them he turned immediately to Elrond and bowed, resisting the urge he had to hug the elven Lord as well for all that he had done.

"Thank you lord Elrond for agreeing to help me help my brother. I will be forever in your debt."

"Let there be no debt to speak of, master Kili." Elrond laughed, "It was my pleasure. If any of you choose to come back to Rivendell you will be received with the highest of welcomes."

"Thank you," Kili replied for all four dwarves.

"Namaarie."

"Goodbye."

Elladan and Elrohir were happy to escort the dwarves out of Rivendell to a place that they recognised and could easily find their way to Ered Luin again. Dwalin and Oin were silent but Bofur and Kili chatted with the twins about hunting orcs and weapons among other things. When it came time for the twins to leave them Kili bade them a fond farewell and watched as they disappeared back towards their home. When their dark hair disappeared from his vision Kili turned towards the direction that would lead him back to Ered Luin, and Fili and smiled. He was going home.


	6. Waiting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is mostly a look at Thorin waiting around for Kili to come back and the sort of state of mind he is in. Balin is there to comfort him and offer him support. Dis and Fili are key in this chapter as well and Fili knows that Kili isn't there and just wants his brother back. Kili, Dwalin, Oin and Bofur have started their journey back from Rivendell and Kili is feeling sad at leaving them behind but excited to be going home and when they grow near to Ered Luin Kili runs into some familiar faces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I imagine Dwalin to a bit a little awkward dealing with younger dwarves since he's the younger brother between him and Balin, but I didn't portray that as much when he's talking to Kili because I wanted it to seem like he's trying xD though the hug is meant to portray the awkwardness a little.  
> Hope you enjoy the chapter :)

### Waiting

Saying goodbye to Rivendell was harder than Kili had imagined it would be. Once they were out of the beautiful valley and Elladan and Elrohir had left them Kili thought that his thoughts would be occupied with finding the way back to Kili but the first time the dwarves stopped to make camp he found that he missed the elven valley. Normally when the sun started to set Kili would curl up in a chair in the dining room next to the warm fire with Glorfindel and the elf would tell him stories about the elder days that he had seen and the time he had spent in Gondolin. Kili had always wanted his stories to be full of action and adventure, like the story of Erebor and the battle of Azanulbizar but he had found he was content to listen to peaceful stories, even if they were of days spent under the shadow of the evil Valar, Morgoth. Glorfindel seemed happy enough to speak of these days, although he sometimes ended up trailing off and staring into the distance with a rather sad smile on his lips, a thoughtful expression in his eyes. Kili had learnt to leave him be when he was in this state, for the elf had a lot of painful memories as well as happy ones and sometimes he liked to dwell on them. Erestor had even stopped by Kili's chair and explained that this had started happening more often ever since Kili had arrived and the young dwarf had spent part of his week wondering why Glorfindel would dwell on the sad parts of his life more in Kili's presence. As he stood staring at the place he knew Rivendell to be hidden Kili reflected sadly that he had never gotten an answer to that question.

"Come on lad," Dwalin barked as Kili stood staring backwards with a blank expression on his face, "Settle down for the night. I'll take first watch."

Kili did as he was told and laid out his bedroll, not realising that Bofur and Oin laid out their own rolls on either side of him, as if to protect him. When he closed his eyes and slept for the night Kili dreamed of both Rivendell and Fili and he slept peacefully with a smile on his lips.

/ 

Thorin stood at the mouth of the path that led down to the plains below Ered Luin, watching for Dwalin, Bofur and Oin's return, hopefully dragging his youngest nephew with them. He had lost count of the days since Kili had gone, though Dis informed him regularly that Kili had been gone for almost a month and Fili had gotten worse during that time, as if he knew his little brother had disappeared. Thorin found he could not wrap his mind around the fact that Kili had been gone for so long because he could not accept the fact that Kili could have survived for that long alone, out in the wilderness. The boy had no concept of the world, he would not know where to start looking for a cure, he did not know anything. Thorin regretted allowing himself to be convinced to return to Ered Luin. He should be out there looking for Kili, making sure his nephew was safe and sound. Then again, if he had watched Kili more closely, instead of being preoccupied with Fili, perhaps he would have noticed what Kili was planning.

"Thoughts like that won't help you laddie."

Thorin jumped as Balin's voice broke through his thoughts and brought him back to reality. Turning he found the old dwarf stood by his side looking down the path that wound down the mountainside, though he could hardly see anything as the sun had set.

"How do you know what I was thinking?" Thorin challenged, the words coming out in a ruder way than he had intended. Balin did not seem offended, shrugging his shoulders and turning to Thorin with his usual warm smile on his lips.

"It's written all over your face Thorin," He explained, "You paid attention to Kili these twenty years. You taught him how to fight, how to forge, you indulged in his dream to learn archery and you made sure he was well fed and fit, the image of the heir of Durin. Kili did not run away because he was being mistreated or ignored, he left to find a cure for his brother and he will return."

"We don't know that Balin." Thorin whispered, his eyes downcast as tears came to them. He had not cried, he would not allow himself to but talking about Kili with Balin made him feel vulnerable and alone, though he knew he was not.  
"How do we know that Kili will return to us alive? How do we know that Dwalin, Bofur and Oin are not carrying his body back to us right now?"

"Do you remember when you promised to make a wooden sword for Fili?" Balin asked. Thorin blinked and looked up, taken unawares by the sudden change in subject. "Kili was incredibly jealous about it and when you gave the sword to Fili he managed to break it in his anger and jealousy? Fili swore never to speak to him again."

"I remember the day clearly Balin but I don't see-." Thorin began but the look in Balin's eyes made his snap his mouth shut and wait for Balin to continue.

"Kili swore that he would make Fili a new sword but both you and Dis said that he could not because he was too small to wield the tools that were needed to carve it." Balin did continue after Thorin had accepted that the story was going to be told in Balin's way. "And when he heard this little Kili was devastated but it did not stop him. For three months he would sneak out of the house and nobody knew where he was going until he turned up with the most misshapen piece of wood anyone in the house had ever seen. It turned out that for the last three months Kili had been using the tools he had been forbidden to go near to make a replacement sword for Fili and even though he knew that it was misshapen and would not do as a sword he did not stop, no matter what injuries he received and had to lie about. Fili was ecstatic when Kili presented it to him and neither you nor Dis could bring yourselves to be angry with little Kili because of his thoughtfulness and determination."

If Thorin had been confused as to why Balin had chosen this particular story at the beginning it became clear to him as Balin continued why his friend had chosen to speak of this mishap in the boy's lives.

"What I want to say laddie is that when it comes to Fili no matter how many times he feels like he's going to fail and no matter what obstacle stands in his way Kili will not give up, he will succeed for his brother." Balin added as an afterthought, just in case Thorin was too grieved to realise what the dwarf was trying to say.

"I think carving a sword and surviving in the wilderness are completely different, Balin, though what you are saying is true. Fili would have done the same if he were in Kili's position." Thorin said after a moment, his voice flat but his eyes still teary.

"Do not worry Thorin, soon enough Kili will return with my brother, Oin and Bofur. They will not stop until they find him." Balin reassured Thorin simply, putting his hand gently on Thorin's arm. Thorin did not reply, he had no words left to say. He knew Balin meant well with his words but until Kili came walking up this path he would not believe them. "You should head back to Dis and Fili, it will not help you or them if you continue to stand here watching. Kili will come straight home when he returns." Balin said after a moment of silence. Thorin nodded numbly and allowed Balin to turn him around and led him back to Dis' house.

Dis was sat in the kitchen sipping a glass of water. Her eyes were red and bloodshot; she had not slept properly since Kili had left the house, crying until she was exhausted at night and spending perhaps a few hours tossing and turning in fitful sleep. It was obvious to both Balin and Thorin that she had been crying recently. Thorin's heart started beating faster, his mind automatically deciding that something had happened to Fili.

"Is Fili okay?" He asked.

Dis looked up and smiled weakly. "He's sleeping. He was awake before and was crying for Kili, it was distressing."

Taking a deep breath Thorin sat down beside his sister and took her hand in his, stroking her knuckles in a comforting way. It was something that Dis' husband had done for her when she had learnt of all the tragedies that had hit the line of Durin and Thorin knew that it relaxed her, though only if Thorin did it; if anybody else did it she was reminded of her husband and it brought her to tears. Balin left the house silently as he watched the interactions between the brother and sister, a soft smile on his lips. He knew once Kili returned, which he strongly believed the boy would, this family would be stronger than ever before, once Kili was punished for running away after.

"Where did you go?" Dis inquired softly.

Thorin looked up to meet her eyes and tried to smile for her. "I went to watch for Kili's return." He admitted. It was hard for him to be strong with for Dis, he loved both Fili and Kili as his own sons, for their father had died just after Kili's birth and he was the only father that Kili knew. He worried for both of them. If something happened to Kili then Fili would never recover, and if Fili died before Kili returned the younger brother would never forgive himself and would likely end up fading away to nothing. The brothers were utterly dependent on each other, and though Thorin would not change the way they were he knew there were many dangers in this.

"When he comes home then he will," Dis murmured, "There is not point watching for him Thorin, it will only make it hurt worse."

Thorin opened his mouth to reply but the sound of smashing glass echoed through the house, originating in Fili's room, and both Thorin and Dis jumped to their feet and ran to see what had happened. Dis ran straight into the room but Thorin stopped at the doorway, a little shocked at what he saw. Fili was sitting up straight in bed, his blue eyes wide open but glazed over, as if he were still sleeping. One of his hands was bleeding and the remnants of a glass was scattered over the floor and the bedspread. Dis reached for Fili's hand but he shrank back from her and screamed. Thorin jumped forward to restrain Fili as his eyes burned suddenly with anger and he looked at his mother, apparently not recognising her.

"KILI!" Fili screamed as Thorin wrapped his arms around him, "KILI!" The second scream, by no means quieter than the first, was muffled against Thorin's chest as the young heir of Durin fought against him, struggling as best he could in his weakened state. He screamed again and again for his brother, tears soaking into Thorin's shirt, hands scrabbling at the rough material as Thorin hugged him tightly, rocking slightly to try and calm him down. Dis left the room for a mere moment before returning with a brush and a small pan, kneeling on the floor next to the shards of glass and sweeping them into the pan.

"Fili it's okay," Thorin murmured softly when Fili had screamed himself hoarse and had began coughing violently into his chest, pulling at Thorin's shirt as he convulsed. "Hush Fili, it's alright." Thorin continued to whisper soothing words to Fili, rubbing his back as he coughed. Dis appeared at his elbow with a cup, wooden this time, full of fresh water. Thorin pulled back from Fili and held him up carefully as Dis knelt next to her son and helped him to sip the water to quell his coughing and soothe his throat.

"What could have brought this on Thorin?" Dis asked, her voice laced with worry.

"He could have had a bad dream about Kili." Thorin speculated.

"What if-?" Dis began but Thorin cut her off with a finger to her lips.

"Do not entertain the idea Dis," He whispered, "Yes the boys have a special bond and they usually know when the other is in trouble, but Fili is ill and Kili is fine. It was a bad dream, that's it."

Dis did not look convinced but she fell silent and watched Fili's face carefully for any signs of further distress. Fili's eyes were slipping closed and he lurched forward suddenly, nearly knocking the cup out of Dis' hands, but she managed to keep hold of it and moved back from her son to secure it on the bedside table. Thorin wrapped an arm around Fili's shoulders and pulled his sister-son into his chest. Fili fell into him and relaxed against him, relaxed, his breathing even now.

"Uncle," He whispered, so quiet that Thorin nearly missed it. Dis sat on Fili's other side and gently ran her fingers through her son's tangled hair as Thorin looked down on him. Fili had his eyes closed and to an outsider it would have seemed that he was sleeping but Thorin knew different.

"What is it Fili?" Thorin asked with a gruff voice as he murmured.

"Did Kili really leave me?" Fili inquired.

Thorin looked across him to Dis and met an uneasy expression on her face. He felt that he probably mirrored her expression. They could not lie to Fili, it was evident that Kili was not here and had not been for a while, but they were unsure how Fili would react if they confirmed it. Neither of them was aware that Fili had indeed spoken with Kili before the younger brother had left and knew where Kili had gone, but Fili himself had forgotten this because of the illness induced fever he had been caught in.

"He's gone looking for something for you Fili, he'll be back soon." Dis replied smoothly, still stroking her eldest son's hair. Fili was silent and both Thorin and Dis took this as sorrow. Thorin stood and made to leave the room. Dis watched him with a said expression on her face.  
"Thorin do not go back outside." She ordered. Thorin did not speak and while Dis soothed Fili and helped him get back to sleep Thorin exited their house and went back to the mouth of the path where he had been standing earlier.

/ 

For three more weeks Thorin stood at the mouth at that path. It had been around two months now since Kili had gone and he knew that with each passing day it was growing more likely that he was not going to return home. Every night for the last three weeks Fili had woken screaming for his brother and every night he had asked where Kili was. He did not seem to be getting any better, despite Dis trying every different medicine she could think of that she hadn't tried yet. Thorin did not see the point in her doing this, it had been twenty years since Fili had fallen ill and no other cure had helped, they needed a more talented healer than they had access to. With a frown on his face Thorin wondered if an elven healer could have helped his nephew, but he would never had allowed an elf anywhere near Fili.

"Back again hmm?" Balin asked. Every time Thorin had stood at the mouth of the path he had been joined after an hour by Balin, who had stood silently beside him and refused to return home whenever Thorin had requested that he get rest.

"I want to be here when he returns so I can be the first to yell at him. I know when Dis sees him she'll cry before she gets angry, especially if he has found a cure for Fili." Thorin replied quietly to Balin.

Balin smiled but knew better than to try and reason with Thorin, he had tried for the first couple of nights when he had found Thorin had returned to watch the path despite Balin and Dis' best efforts to keep him in the house. He stayed until Fili woke screaming and then left to watch for Kili, almost as if he felt he could force Kili to come back quicker if he stood there waiting for him. Balin was worried about Kili and the other dwarves that had gone looking for him. He knew his little brother Dwalin would not stop until he found Kili, dead or alive, captive or free, with or without a cure and he would bring the boy back and that alone worried him. Dwalin was completely loyal to Thorin and Dis and loved both Fili and Kili, although Kili had been afraid of Dwalin when he had been younger because of how strong Dwalin looked, and Balin was worried about not seeing his brother for a very long time. The two of them helped each other get through the day due to all that they had lost still resting heavily on them, and Balin did not look forward to spending months alone with his brother.

Thorin seemed to sense that Balin was thinking about his brother and was worried because the exiled King wrapped an arm around Balin's shoulders as a sign of comfort. Balin was a lot older than Thorin and sometimes he forgot that the dwarven prince was so mature.

"I am sorry for this Balin," Thorin whispered after a moment, "I know how much you and Dwalin need each other for support during your daily lives."

"Do not worry about it Thorin," Balin replied softly, "Kili and Fili are both extremely important to myself and Dwalin, we'll do whatever we can to make sure they are safe and sound. We know the bond between brothers is extremely strong and that some brothers need each other in their daily lives, so we will assist the boys where we can." He continued and Thorin smiled grimly before trying, and failing, to hide a yawn behind his hand.

Balin eyed him with a knowing look. Thorin blushed a little under the stare in embarrassment. He had known Balin since he was a young dwarf and had always admired him and he knew exactly what Balin wanted to say to him, even though he would not actually say it.

"It seems young Kili may return to find you asleep in this spot rather than awake and alert waiting to yell at him." Balin said after a moment and Thorin started, he had not been expecting the older dwarf to tease him.

"Nonsense," He dismissed it but he felt the urge to laugh rising inside of him. He fought it down regardless of how strong it was and sighed deeply instead. "I will watch every night and would watch all day if I could but I have to work. I will be here when Kili comes home." He said gruffly and Balin nodded.

"I know you will laddie, I know you will." He agreed.

/ 

After three weeks of travelling Ered Luin the dwarves crossed the river Lhûn and were on track to be home the next day and Kili felt bubbling excitement in his chest as they traipsed towards it. Dwalin, Bofur and Oin had not said much after the two week mark of travelling and Kili assumed that this was Dwalin's personal punishment that Bofur and Oin were going along with it. During the third week they had met quite a few orc scouts and had yet to meet a full group of them and Dwalin had ordered that Kili stayed out of the fighting at all costs. The young dwarf had done as ordered but with a pout on his face, his famous pout that made it hard to say not to him, but it did not affect Dwalin at all.

Dwalin had decided that they would pass through the markets at the base of Ered Luin and camp a little way up the mountain, as the sun was starting to set and the sky was dyed many different colours. The four dwarves would make the home stretch early the next morning and Kili couldn't wait.

As they walked through the markets Kili recognised the men that he had bartered the statue to and gulped, he hoped they did not notice him, he was in enough trouble as it was and he was sure that Dwalin did not know he had given a statue from Erebor away. Luck did not seem to be with him as one of the men recognised him and hurried over, not seeming to realise that Dwalin, who was a very intimidating dwarf, was with him.

"Hey, Thorin's lad!" One of them called, stopping in front of him with a lopsided, gap-toothed grin. "Got anymore things like this?" He asked, pulling the statue out of his bag and shoving it in Kili's face. It was not the man that Kili had given the statue to and Kili was shocked that the statue was still in any of their possession, but it wouldn't have made sense to sell it around Ered Luin.

"I…umm…" He was a little lost for words when he felt Dwalin appear behind him and he saw the grin on the man's face turn into a grimace. The man was taller than Dwalin but he was scrawny and used to dirty fighting and he would not stand a chance against the warrior dwarf.

"Forget it kid, here, take it." He cried, throwing the statue back to Kili who caught it with numb hands and turned to see that Bofur and Oin had come up as well and Bofur was carrying his mattock in front of him. The man had obviously seen this as a threat but Bofur had to carry his mattock because it was too big for him to carry at his waist and Bofur was one of the most charming and happy looking person that could be found around Ered Luin, and was known in all the markets, but obviously not by this man. Before Dwalin, Bofur or Oin could say anything the man had taken off and Dwalin pushed Kili forward without a word.

When they found a good place to settle for the night before continuing on the next day Dwalin drew Kili aside and ushered for him to sit down. Kili was sure that Dwalin was going to angrily chastise him for giving away something from Erebor so easily so he was once again lost for words when the dwarf hugged him, rather awkwardly.

"I know how hard that must have been for you to do." Dwalin muttered, "You were taught from a young age how important the few things that we have from Erebor are to those of us living here and you must have been willing to face the consequences when you returned." He continued.

Kili nodded. "I was sure Uncle Thorin and my ma was going to be so angry when they knew it was gone, but I wanted to help Fili and I needed supplies. And I've got it back now." He laughed a little and Dwalin smiled.

"I am sure they will be angry for other reasons apart from the statue lad," Dwalin admitted, "But I want you to know that I'm proud of you for the maturity you have shown." With that said Dwalin stood and asked Bofur to take the first watch, even though they were so close to home. Kili settled down where he sat, cuddling up around the statue despite how cold and hard it was, wondering if he would actually sleep that night because of how excited he was to see Fili again and administer the cure. As he fell asleep at the base of the moment Thorin looked out from the top of the mountain, desperate for his nephew's safe return.


	7. Brothers Together Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kili comes home with the cure and gets a lot of hugs from his family, with lies ready about where he's been. Dis and Thorin are torn between being extremely happy as well asrelieved that's he home with a cure for Fili and being angry at him for running away. Kili is punished for his actions. Fili gets back into his old life and the line of Durin is happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter. There is an epilogue but since that's set in the future...well this is the actual final chapter. Nice Durin family feels and harsh punishment for Kili.
> 
> In a lot of fics Thorin is just completely mad about getting Erebor back and as soon as he hears about the signs he's trying to find a way to go there without losing his family, and though I can see why Thorin would be like this I thought it would be more fitting considering what Fili had been through in this fic if Thorin could easily just say that he wanted to stay with his family instead of deliberating about Erebor. You might not agree with it, but that's my view so no hate please.
> 
> I hope you've enjoyed the fic. Enjoy the final chapter.

### Brothers Together Again

Kili woke at the crack of dawn the next morning, surprised he had been asleep and disappointed to see Bofur and Oin were still sleeping. Dwalin was awake and watching, but he grunted a "good morning" as Kili climbed from his bedroll and stretched, smiling down at the statue he was still holding in his hands. He had stayed dressed the night before to cut down the time it would take to get ready in the morning. Excitement took over him and he moved from Bofur, who was closer to him, to Oin, shaking them awake and rousing them properly with a cry. Both shot from their beds as Kili's cry, thinking that trouble was coming. Bofur laughed when he realised Kili was just excited to get home and started packing up his things, but Oin grumbled and shooed Kili away from him, turning to join Bofur in packing up their little camp.

Dwalin stood and turned to Kili. "Are you sure you're ready for this lad?" He asked.

Kili knew what he was referring to, the consequences and repercussions of him running away, on his mother, Thorin and on Fili and he nodded firmly. "I went away to find a cure for Fili and I found one. I did what I wanted to do and I am ready to accept their anger and their sorrow and other things." He replied.

Dwalin smiled and clapped a hand to Kili's shoulder. "I'll stand by you lad."

"Thank you Mister Dwalin," Kili said and smiled properly for the first time in a while.

"We're ready to go," Bofur called. Kili took off up the path to the top of the mountain at Bofur's words, Dwalin, Oin and Bofur himself following at a slightly slower pace. There was no stopping Kili though, and soon he was running up the path, the other three dwarves jogging behind him to keep him in their sight.

As Kili came up the final part of the path he saw Thorin sat on the ground, his back against a rock and his eyes closed. Balin sat beside him and smiled widely when he saw Kili, though his eyes were searching for Dwalin. At the sight of his uncle, after having been away from him for so long, Kili felt his eyes fill with tears and he stumbled towards him slowly. He thought Thorin was asleep but as soon as the older dwarf heard the steps coming up the path his eyes snapped open and he jumped to his feet, wildly looking about him. He saw Kili walking slowly towards him, slightly teary, carrying the precious statue from Erebor in his arms. Dwalin, Oin and Bofur were nowhere to be seen, Kili had left them behind when he had seen the end of the path coming, but Thorin did not notice this at the time because he only had eyes for his nephew. He had planned exactly what he was going to say to the boy when he returned but words failed him and he felt his eyes filling with tears in relief that Kili was alive and well and home.

For a moment neither moved, Kili having stopped walking when a range of emotions had passed over Thorin's face. Then, suddenly, Kili placed the statue from Erebor on the ground and ran at Thorin, throwing himself into his uncle's arms and hugging him tightly.

"I'm sorry!" He cried, tears flowing freely as Thorin caught him and hugged him back just as tightly. "I'm sorry uncle, I'm so sorry but I had to…I had to."

"Hush Kili, hush, it's okay." Thorin whispered, bringing a hand up to stroke Kili's hair and surreptitiously checking for injuries at the same time. Kili buried his face in Thorin's neck, breathing in the smells of home. Oh how he had missed them. "Don't think you're getting away with this young man." Thorin muttered as he held Kili close. Kili laughed a little bit and mumbled something that Thorin didn't quite understand.

Dwalin, Oin and Bofur appeared at the end of the path and smiled at the sight of Kili and Thorin hugging tightly. Balin stood and approached his brother. Customarily they would have head-butted each other to say hello but there was a silent agreement between the that a hug was needed and that is what they did, Balin tucking his head beneath Dwalin's chin as they hugged. Bofur and Oin smiled warmly at the sight of the family reunions and slipped off to find their own families to let them know they were back, but both knew they would have to be there to help tell their version of the events.

"Uncle," Kili said, pulling back from the hug and heading over the statue, picking it up and handing it back over to Thorin, "I'm sorry that I took this statue and bartered it to get supplies." He stated firmly, wiping his tears away with one hand. "But I found a cure for Fili!"

Thorin felt his anger for Kili being so reckless coming to the surface but then it hit him that Kili had found a cure. He had found a cure.

"How do you know?" He asked quickly.

"I stole Oin's medicine book and I found all the ingredients I would need to make a cure for Fili." Kili admitted sheepishly, hoping that this would be a good enough answer and Thorin would not pry. Luck had not been on Kili's side on the way back from Rivendell but Thorin did not ask any other questions, wrapping an arm around Kili's shoulders and steering him towards home.

"You will have to deal with your mother's wrath before you can give Fili his cure Kili, I don't think I can stop her." Thorin admitted and Kili nodded.

"I know, I'm ready for it." He said.

"Are you sure?" Thorin asked with a grim smile.

Kili took a moment to think about it and then shook his head. "Maybe not. But I'm ready for the majority of it."

"If you say so." Thorin said.

They had reached Dis' house and Kili barged into the house confidently. Thorin hung back and allowed Kili to deposit his stuff on the floor and then make his way through the house to Fili's room.

Dis was sat on the bed beside Fili, her back to the door and her fingers gently stroking Fili's forehead as he slumbered.

"Where have you been all night Thorin?" She asked, assuming that Thorin had returned eventually, "Don't tell me you were waiting for Kili again?"

Kili opened his mouth to tell his mother that he was back but he found that his words would not come out. After a few minutes of silence Dis turned to ask Thorin why he was not speaking and her eyes widened at the sight of Kili stood there at the door, his eyes slightly puffy from crying into Thorin's shoulder beforehand and a half smile on his face.

"Kili…" She whispered, rising from the bed and stumbling towards him. Kili opened his arms, asking if he could have a hug and Dis pulled her youngest son into her arms as he did so, hugging him so much tighter than Thorin had before but Kili did not care, he had missed his mother's hug, her unique smell of baking bread, of the smoky scent of cooking and the small amount of perfume that she wore. He hugged her tightly as well, grasping at her dress as he did and burying his face in her neck despite being taller than her, whispering how he was sorry, so sorry, for leaving her and not telling her what he was going to do.

"Kili?" A cracked voice asked. Kili pulled back from Dis and turned to see Fili awake and staring at him. His eyes were dulled in colour and he looked terrible, pale and thin, his cheekbones poking against his skin. "You're home." Fili whispered. Kili nodded, unable to move to his brother's side as Dis was refusing to let him go.

"Fili, please try and rest while I talk to Kili outside." She requested and Fili nodded, knowing better than to argue with Dis while he was in this state. Kili's return seemed to have done a world of good to him, he was able to smile and his breathing seemed easier, but Dis found that she wasn't really surprised by this, the boy's were extremely close and took comfort from each other. Kili allowed Dis to steer him from the room and into the kitchen, where Thorin was slicing some of the freshly made bread to give to Kili, assuming his nephew was hungry.

"Ma, I found a cure." Kili said straight away, taking the anger out of Dis straight away and filling her with relief. Her eyes filled with tears.

"You have?" She asked.

"Yes." Kili confirmed. "And I know you're angry at me and upset and you have a lot of things to yell at me for because I did a lot of things that can be seen as immature, but I did them all for Fili and for our family. So…can you yell at me later and allow me to make the cure?" He asked quickly.

Dis took a deep breath to control herself before nodding and gesturing for Kili to come back to her for another hug. Kili did so, hugging her tightly and Thorin stopped slicing the bread to join the hug.

"Right you have a job to do Kili for your brother. Eat something as well if you're hungry but I will make you some stew later on." Dis said sternly, pushing Kili back towards the table. Kili scooted around the table to his bag and withdrew the ingredients that Elrond have given him. He had enough for ten doses of it, which Elrond said Fili would need, one every day, but it needed to be made fresh each day so he only took out enough of the plants to mix one dosage for his brother. Settling himself at the kitchen table Kili took a deep breath and began to mix his ingredients.

As Kili began to work Dis took Thorin from the kitchen into her own room and sat down on the bed. Thorin sat next to her and took his sister's hand into his own.

"What are you thinking Dis?" Thorin inquired quietly.

Dis shook her head and pulled one hand free from Thorin's to wipe her eyes. "I am so happy that my son is home Thorin," She whispered, "But I just...I am so angry at him for leaving but it's so hard…it's so hard to be angry with him now because he's accepted that I am angry with him and he's waiting for me to be angry. And he found a cure for Fili and I am so proud of him and happy that Fili's ordeal will finally be over." She explained, "It doesn't really make sense."

"No Dis it does make sense," Thorin interrupted quietly and Dis looked at him, her eyes still teary. "When I first saw Kili I was angry at him but then I was relieved that he was alive and he just accepted that I was going to be angry and he apologised and then…well he found the cure so I'm so happy as well."

"What do we do with him Thorin? He cannot get away with this and yet I don't think I can be angry with him." Dis sighed, resting her head on Thorin's shoulder.

Thorin automatically reached up to stroke her hair, an answer ready on his lips before they heard Fili's scream and it died on his lips. Both Dis and Thorin bolted from her room and headed to Fili's but found that Kili had gotten their first. Normally Fili was thrashing around violently as he was screaming but as soon as Kili approached him he fell silent and watched Kili. Kili pressed their foreheads together and gazed into Fili's eyes, non-verbally calming his brother down. Dis and Thorin waited in the doorway, watching with pride as Kili dealt with his older brother.

"How often has this happened?" Kili asked as he made Fili lie back down before moving back from the bed and sliding between his mother and uncle and back to the kitchen, determined to finish his cure.

"For the past three weeks it's been happening every night." Dis replied.

"Was it my fault?" Kili asked.

"We're not sure Kili," Thorin answered, seating himself beside Kili and gesturing for Dis to sit down as well. She did so. "And to answer your question Dis," Thorin continued, "I think that Kili knows what he has done wrong and therefore we do not need to tell him or be angry with him to his face. I think we should punish him. He will face his punishments without complaint because of how he left without a word and for the other things we decide he needs punishing for."

"Yes Thorin I agree with that," Dis decided after a moment. Kili was too focused on his work to be paying too much attention to their conversation so he did not respond, wincing only a bit when his stomach rumbled. Dis took up a piece of the sliced bread and held it to Kili's mouth and the young dwarf took a bite from it almost without thinking. Dis and Thorin exchanged a smile at this.

"You look tired." Thorin pointed out after a moment. It was clear he was talking to Kili, although his nephew wasn't listening; too busy concentrating on his work, so Thorin looked over at Dis to direct the statement to her.

His little sister smiled and shrugged. "Twenty years of looking after an extremely ill son will do that to you. You don't exactly look your best either," She replied lightly and Thorin's smile widened. His sister had not made one joke or been able to smile happily since Fili had first fallen ill, which was understandable and Thorin had assumed that it would take her a while to fall back into the life they had lived before Fili's illness but it seemed he was wrong.

"Ma can you put some water on for me please? We need to make this into a tea." Kili asked, interrupting Dis and Thorin's teasing of each other. Dis stood and immediately did as Kili asked while Kili put the finishing touches to his ingredients.

"Are you sure all of this was in Oin's book Kili?" Thorin inquired. He trusted Oin as a healer, for he had helped Dis through both her pregnancies and helped nurse her back to health after Kili's birth, which had been a troublesome, complicated one, but if these ingredients and this cure had been in his healing books all this time why had Fili been ill for twenty years.

"That's where I found it. The book was rather dusty, it was full of drawings and descriptions that Oin had obviously done himself, medicinal plants and herbs that were used in healing smaller ailments, like battle wounds and mixes for preventing infection." Kili said distractedly, bringing a bit of the mixture to his lips to taste it and pulling a disgusted face. "I think Master Oin must have forgotten he had the book, or didn't think there would be anything in there worth looking at. I looked through all the healing manuals and books he had had and came across these four ingredients which are said to cure ailments like Fili's." He continued, standing and taking the mixture over to one of the cupboards in the kitchen and taking a mug from it. Dis had stayed by the water, stirring it and tending to the fire so that it would boil faster.

Thorin was lost for words when Kili had finished speaking. Before Fili had gotten sick Kili had been all innocent smiles and wistful thinking, a little ball of energy that never stopped going and that had been loved by everyone. After Fili had become ill that had changed ever so slightly, Kili was more content to stay inside and study, or fletch arrows or even to help Thorin at the forge every now and then, but he had still been energetic, hunting and babbling away excitedly to Fili once the boy was ordered to stay in bed all day. Now Kili had matured a lot faster than Thorin had wanted him to, as he had been out into the world and knew something of it at least and it saddened him to see Kili like this, but hopefully once Fili was better the boy would return to how he had been, following Fili around and being cheerful and childish again. Thorin had never found himself wishing for Kili to be a child more than he was now.

"The water is ready Kili," Dis said, breaking Thorin from his thoughts.

Kili smiled and kissed his mother on the cheek as thanks as he took the kettle from her and poured the boiling water into the mug. Dis and Thorin stood behind him, one on either side, so they could watch what Kili was doing. Once the water was in the mug Kili took a spoon in one hand and pinch of his mixture in the other and slowly stirred the water as he rubbed his index finger and thumb together, slowly adding the powder to the water. He continued doing this, stirring continuously, until all the powder was gone. He stirred a couple more times to make sure that the powder was completely mixed with the water before pulling the spoon free and taking a sip.

"Ugh that is foul," He muttered, "I don't envy Fili right now."

Dis and Thorin laughed in relief but both were taken aback by the sight of the tea that Kili had made, it wasn't a very nice colour and the odour was not a pleasant one. Kili took the mug into one hand and headed to Fili's room. Dis and Thorin followed without a word.

"Fee?" Kili whispered as he entered the room. Fili stirred slightly on the bed and opened his eyes to look at Kili. "I need you to drink this for me." Kili said, sinking down onto the bed and gesturing to the mug with his free hand. Fili struggled to sit up, Dis moving to his side to help him immediately and eyed the tea that Kili was holding. His eyes narrowed at it immediately and he wrinkled his nose, shaking his head as vigorously as he dared.

"Come on darling," Dis said quietly, "Kili left to find you a cure, this will help you get better."

Fili met Kili's eye and Kili smiled and nodded. Fili nodded with him and Kili moved over to Fili's side so he could help him drink it.

"Be careful, it's quite hot." He warned his brother. Fili nodded again and sipped the tea, his face contorting in disgust as he drank it down as quickly as possible, sticking his tongue out when he was done and shivered slightly. Kili laughed and stood from the bed. "Better get used to it Fili, you've got nine more days of this."

"Brilliant," Fili rasped and fell back onto his pillows, drawing the covers up to his head and burying himself underneath them. Kili left the room as he did so, taking the mug back to the kitchen and sliding a piece of bread into his hand. Dis stayed with Fili, stroking his hair, but Thorin followed Kili and took a piece of bread for himself.

"Are you sure it will work?" He asked Kili after the dwarf had devoured his second slice of bread and had moved on to his third.

"No," Kili admitted, "Because I've not tested it. But yes, because I want to help Fili and help Fili I shall."

Thorin laughed and clapped a hand to Kili's shoulder before pulling his nephew in for another hug. Kili made a noise of discontent as Thorin squashed the slice of bread he was holding but hugged his uncle back with one arm.

"I shall decide on a suitable punishment for you with your mother later today Kili." Thorin stated.

Kili nodded. "Okay."

Torn between smiling because Kili was finally accepting his punishment and, strangely, being disappointed that he was no longer the stubborn dwarfling who would complain about any punishment set against him Thorin settled for hugging Kili again and resting his head against his nephews. "I'm glad you're home."

"Me too uncle," Kili sighed, "Me too."

/ 

Kili's punishment was less than he had been expected. It consisted of getting up at five every morning to clean out the stables where the dwarves kept the few ponies they used for long distance travelling, which Kili found to be a more relaxing job than he had first thought. True it smelled terrible and some of the ponies did not have a very nice disposition but Kili grew used to both these things after his second day doing it. After he had cleaned out the stables he had to wash and brush the ponies, feed them, give them water and then take them to a small paddock situated down the mountain to give them exercise. He had to stay there for three hours at least, and then bring them back. Once this task was done he was allowed home where Dis would have prepared a bath for him and some lunch. For the first nine days of his punishment Kili would prepare his herbal tea for Fili and help him to drink it, then both boys would nap. Kili was then assigned to help Balin sort out his maps, books and scrolls in the dwarf's makeshift library, and sometimes Balin had him copying out some of the more worn scrolls so that the knowledge within them would not be lost. Kili found this tedious but he went about it without complaining, except secretly to Fili when he was done. Dis would accept Kili home for a late tea, the young dwarf usually arriving home around the same time as Thorin from the forge. When they had both eaten Kili would help Dis tidy up the house and would clean Thorin's clothes. After an hour or two he was sent out to clean the forge where Thorin worked and only when everything was clean and set in order, although Thorin usually left it this way anyway, Kili was allowed home and into bed.

Dis and Thorin were very proud of how Kili accepted this very harsh punishment and for the first eight days Kili did as they told him to. When the ninth day of his punishment came, the last day that he had to give Fili the cure, Kili was extremely excitable and rushed through his chores to finish them as best he could. He over-looked a few things and gave himself a few nasty paper cuts while working for Balin, but he knew that when he returned home after working in the forges that Fili would already have started feeling better.

Barging through the door, sweaty and breathing hard, Kili felt happiness rush through him as he saw Fili sat at the kitchen table, a bowl of soup in front of him and a healthy colour to his cheeks. Fili looked up as Kili entered and for a while they just stared at each other, before both brothers smiled. Kili laughed loudly and threw himself at Fili, dragging him from his chair and into a tight hug. Fili returned the hug as tightly as he could, weak from twenty years spent lying down and mostly sleeping.

"Thank you Kili," He murmured, "Thank you for saving me."

"Kili," Dis said softly before Kili could reply to his brother and Kili looked over Fili's shoulder at their mother, whose eyes were shining with tears. "We have decided that we shall be cutting back on your punishment a little so that you can be the one who helps Fili recuperate his strength, slowly, over time. Thorin has already agreed that once Fili is strong enough to walk around un-aided he will have you help him get Fili up to speed on his weapons training."

"Really?" Kili asked, his voice slightly higher than normal because of his high emotional state and his excitement.

"Yes Kili. I heard from Dwalin, Bofur and Oin that you fought and killed at least twenty orcs alone, maybe even more. You are strong and skilled for one so young and Fili would benefit from fighting against you." Thorin assured the youngest heir. Kili laughed again, louder this time and hugged Fili even tighter than before.

"You talked to them without me? I thought you would have questioned us all together." Kili asked, keeping his arms tight around his brother.

"I didn't want you to have a chance to convince them to lie for you Kili, to hide if you were injured or in trouble." Thorin replied matter-of-factly.

Fili coughed and patted Kili's back as Thorin spoke. "Come on Kee, you're choking me." He gasped.

"Sorry," Kili said immediately, pulling back but keeping his hands on Fili's shoulders. "I just kept thinking that you were going to be alright and I keep forgetting you aren't just going to get your strength back suddenly."

"No, it's going to take time Kili," Dis repeated, "But with his brother by his side I'm sure Fili will recover his strength in no time."

"Can I take him outside now ma?" Kili asked hopefully. Fili's eyes lit up and he turned to Dis with a rather pleading expression. Since the afternoon when Kili had left to help Balin he had started to feel stronger and eventually Dis had allowed him out of bed to walk around the room, then out of bed properly to have his first proper, relaxing bath in all the years he had been sick. He was feeling stronger than he had for a while and he missed the outdoors terribly, even though dwarves were supposed to be used to living inside mountains with rock over their heads.

"It's a bit late Kili," Thorin answered before Dis could and Fili's face fell.

"Just out the door? We'll keep it open and everything so you can see us." Kili requested.

"Please?" The boys asked together.

Dis laughed and stood, gesturing for them to follow her. With hopeful expressions the boys did, but their faces fell when they realised she was leading them to their shared room. Once inside she withdrew some fresh clothes from the chest at the end of Fili's bed. They looked brand new, like they had never been worn before, and the hem of the fur-lined coat was decorated with a pattern similar to the one in coats that both Thorin and Kili owned.

"I had this made for you to give you on your fortieth birthday Fili, but you were too ill to even remember the day. I had it fitted to what size I had guessed you would be had you not been so thin from the illness, so it should still fit you. If you wear this coat, with some boots, I will allow you outside, but only for a little while. I trust that Kili will not try and make you do anything too strenuous so you do not have to keep the door open but stay in the garden." She said. Kili hugged her tightly, Fili doing the same when his little brother had pulled back.

"Thanks ma," Fili said, his voice rasping a little bit. Dis beckoned to Fili and he turned around and slipped his arms into the coat, allowing Dis to fix it properly onto his shoulders and look over him to make sure it fitted him properly.

"Good guess ma." Kili laughed.

"Thank you Kili," She laughed as well and pushed Fili towards the door. "Go on you get your boots on. I had some new ones made to go with the outfit. They might be a little big but you'll grow into them." She ordered them. Kili ran through the kitchen into the living room in excitement to grab Fili's boots for him, Fili following at a slower, more stumbling pace.

"You're too soft with them." Thorin commented as Dis re-entered the kitchen and took a seat beside them.

Dis rolled her eyes at the accusation and smiled. "Maybe I am Thorin but they're my sons, I'm allowed to be soft on them. Besides, Kili has struggled through all the punishments we have set and Fili has been bedridden for nearly twenty years, I think they deserve a little leniency." She agreed.

Thorin shook his head and watched as Fili waved off Kili as the younger brother tried to help him fasten his boots.

"I'm not an invalid anymore Kili I can fasten my own shoes." He complained as Kili sat back on his heels and watched as Fili struggled. He knew how to tie laces, he remembered it all but his fingers were having trouble with them because of the amount of time it had been since he had had to tie laces.

"Are you sure?" Kili asked after Fili failed for the fourth time. He could tell Fili was getting frustrated and embarrassed by his failure. His brother said nothing, just moved his hands and allowed Kili to quickly and efficiently tie the laces. Dis and Thorin watched as Kili stood and helped Fili to his feet, wondering how much frustration Fili could take before it got too much and he refused to move. Kili pulled Fili into another hug once his brother was stood up and stable on his feet.

"I'm not useless Kili, I know how to do it all I just…can't." Fili muttered into Kili's neck and Kili heard the sadness in his brother's voice and he squeezed his eyes shut to will away the tears.

"It's going to take some time Fili and we all know that. If you need help just ask for it, even if it is for trivial things that you think you should be able to do. Just think, this morning you were still stuck in bed and felt weak and now you're standing here and feeling strong, but you still need assistance. Ask me when you need help brother, I'll always be there for you." Kili murmured back and squeezed Fili lightly before pulling back. "Ready to go outside?"

"Yes." Fili said, his voice more confident now and a radiant smile on his face.

"Not too long Kili okay?" Dis called as Kili opened the door for his brother.

"I know ma." Kili called back, letting the door shut behind him and taking Fili's hand. It was quite dark outside, only the lights from the windows of their home lighting their way but both brothers knew the layout of the exterior of their house well. Kili led the way regardless, holding tightly to Fili and unconsciously guiding him to make sure he didn't stumble. Fili did not complain.

There was a little back garden attached to their house that Fili and Kili had spent many hours playing in it when they were younger and practising sparring in it when they had grown older and had started their weapons practise. Kili steered Fili into this garden and over to a small bench that he and Thorin had built about ten years ago because it seemed like Fili might have been getting better and they were going to chance taking him outside. This was where Kili sat Fili down and settled beside him.

"It feels so good to be outside." Fili sighed, tilting his head back and smiling as a light breeze ruffled his hair.

Kili giggled and took a few strands of Fili's golden hair between his fingers. "Your hair is a mess. Can I braid it for you later?"

"Of course brother. I've missed that." Fili declared and shifted a little so his head was resting on Kili's shoulder. "Where did you go Kili?" He asked after a few moments of silence, eyes on the sky, counting the stars that he can see. "Where did you go when you went to find a cure?"

Kili mused over the answer for a moment. It was essential that he lied to Thorin, his uncle would be extremely angry if he knew that Kili had gone to the elves for help, or Kili assumed that he would be. He doubted Fili would be angry and he didn't want to lie to his brother but he didn't want to talk about it in case he started babbling about how much fun he had had and how he felt like he had made a friend with Glorfindel and possibly the twin sons of Elrond as well.

"Kili?" Fili asked when Kili didn't reply.

"You have to keep this from uncle Thorin and ma okay?" Kili warned Fili and his brother nodded. "I went to Rivendell." He whispered.

Fili sat up straight, his eyes widened a little as he looked at Kili. "Really? You went to the elves?"

"Yes. I knew that if anyone could help me with a cure it would be the elves so I sort out Rivendell and stayed there with help from Lord Elrond." Kili confirmed.

"I can see why you would want to keep that from uncle Thorin." Fili admitted and rested his head back on Kili's shoulder.

Kili laughed, "Yeah and Dwalin, Bofur and Oin agreed to keep it from him as well. I've never heard of Dwalin keeping anything from uncle Thorin before."

"Imagine the look on his face if we ever end up going back to Rivendell with uncle Thorin and you're greeted with open arms." Fili joked.

"That won't be a problem," Kili claimed, "Lord Elrond has already told me that if, in the rare occurrence that we do return, I will be treated like a stranger, as will Bofur, Oin and Dwalin."

"Wow, you really thought this all through didn't you brother?" Fili asked with a yawn, his eyes slipping closed as he snuggled into his brother.

"I'd do anything for you Fili," Kili vowed, slipping an arm around his brother's shoulders and drawing him closer. He rested his head on top of Fili's head and closed his own eyes.

Dis came out half an hour later to find both her sons asleep on the bench, Fili nestled in Kili's arms and Kili resting his head on the top of Fili's. Smiling she called for Thorin before gently separating them and taking Fili into her arms. Thorin gathered up Kili and they bore them inside and laid them in Kili's bed, together. Immediately Kili latched onto Fili again and cuddled him in his sleep, sighing happily and mumbling something about being home and happiness. Dis ushered Thorin from the room with a light smile on her face, she was not worried about Fili getting back into the swing of his old life with Kili by his side. Normally Fili was the one helping Kili and looking after him so she wondered how her eldest would deal with the roles being reversed. Shutting the door to their room Dis breathed deeply and had to stop herself from giggling, their home was complete and life would soon be back to normal.

/ 

Kili grunted as his back hit the ground and he rubbed the back of his head where he had banged it. Fili stood over him, clad in full clothes with his furs on his shoulders and twin swords in his hands, one pointed down at his brother and the other pointed at Thorin, who was holding a sword of his own and eying Fili warily.

"I surrender." Kili grumbled, reaching up to push Fili's sword aside. Fili laughed, sticking the sword in the ground and offering a hand for Kili to take. Grudgingly Kili did and allowed Fili to pull him back to his feet.

"Well played Fili," Thorin stated, pushing Fili's other sword aside and moving forward to clasp his eldest nephews shoulder. "Kili I think that your brother may have beaten your sword skills." He commented to Kili who rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue.

"Neither of you will ever beat me in archery though." He muttered.

"Don't be so sullen Kili," Thorin chastised him, "Your foot work is better than your brothers and you are slightly quicker than him, but he uses his head when he is fighting and you go for brute strength when it comes to sword play."

"But there is a lot of skill that needs to be put into archery, so Kili spends more time honing those skills." Fili said a little breathlessly, defending his little brother regardless of the praise he himself had received, which had made him smile. Kili smiled at Fili's words and took up his own sword from the ground.

"Perhaps you'll partake in a little archery with me then brother?" He inquired.

Fili shook his head with a laugh. "I will however come with you to the archery fields because I can practise with throwing daggers there." He decided. Kili grinned and hurried off to fetch his bow and quiver of arrows.

"You're doing so well Fili," Thorin said once Kili had gone but was shouting for them to hurry up and follow.

"Thanks to you and ma and Kili." Fili replied nonchalantly. "He's been by my side every step of the way."

"Well you've come very far in the last year, I didn't really expect you to become so strong in such a short time after all the time you've spent in bed." Thorin spoke as he pushed Fili to follow his brother, who had gathered his weapons and was waving for them to join him. "But yes, Kili has certainly been a big help in how quickly you've been able to do things."

"Is he still being punished?" Fili inquired quietly as they walked together.

"Not as much as he was but he still deals with the ponies every now and then and cleans the forge every night. Apparently he enjoys doing it." Thorin replied.

Fili laughed, "It's typical of Kili isn't it?"

"How so?"

"Well, if this was a punishment for something small that he had done he'd be complaining and he'd hate the whole thing, no matter what the punishment was and yet now that he's being punished for something that is actually important and he enjoys it." Fili explained.

Thorin joined his laughter and nodded. "Yes, that is typical of Kili."

"Come on already!" Kili yelled, "Or I'm going on without you!"

"Alright, alright!" Fili laughed and jogged over to Kili. They immediately linked arms and walked off to the archery field, set up specifically for Kili and Fili. Thorin continued walking slowly, watching with a half smile on his face as he watched them interacting. Life had become like Fili had never been ill at all, and Thorin was happy with that, he had worried when Fili had first started going outside again and had assured everyone that he was okay that the fact he had missed out on twenty years might have hung over the family for a while but Fili had completely pushed it aside and seemed happy to follow Kili around for a bit before he had the confidence to go around alone.

"Everything alright with them Thorin?" Dwalin asked, appearing at Thorin's side suddenly and shocking the exiled King for a moment.

"Fili is fine, Kili is fine, everybody is fine." Thorin replied.

"That's good. It's been a tough year I assume."

"It has," Thorin sighed softly and smiled, "But everything is okay. Kili is strong and supportive, Fili is responding well to everything that Kili does and Dis, well Dis is just glad to have both her sons."

"I'm glad they're both okay as well. I've brought news." Dwalin stated, his tone changing at his last sentence.

"News of what?" Thorin asked, although he was sure he knew the answer to his question.

"Oin has been reading signs for the past year, signs that it may soon become time to take back Erebor." Dwalin answered quietly, eyes on Kili and Fili, who were play fighting in the grass of the field.

"This is one thing I don't want to think about right now, and I never thought I'd hear myself saying that." Thorin stated firmly before he could become too excited. "Right now I want to focus on Fili getting completely safe and healthy." He continued. "Have Oin keep reading the signs, we do not need to move too quickly. I want to focus on my family for a while longer Dwalin before I end up going on a quest that could take me away from them."

"I understand." Dwalin said shortly and walked off to take the message to Oin.

Thorin took a deep breath before heading over to Kili and Fili.

"Oh you two stop it!" He cried when he reached them, "Focus on your training not on fighting each other."

"Sorry uncle," Fili panted, untangling himself from Kili's limbs and standing up, dragging Kili up with him.

"Sorry to all of you but dinner is ready so right now you need to come home and eat before you can train." Dis called from the edge of the field, having arrived shortly after Dwalin left. Kili glanced at Fili who shrugged and ran off towards his mother. Kili followed suit, just remembering to grab his bow, which he had discarded when he and Fili had started to wrestle. Thorin sighed and shook his head, gathering up Fili's throwing knives and twin swords as well that the older brother had forgotten and hurried after his family as they moved back home.

_I will take back Erebor for my family, but I will not move until I am sure that I will not lose them in the process_ , he decided as he mulled over Dwalin's words, before pushing them to the back of his mind and running off to catch up with Dis, Fili and Kili, commenting to Dis how Fili had bested his baby brother today. All four dwarves laughed as the door to their home in Ered Luin closed behind them, shutting out the worries of Erebor for now.


	8. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a small epilogue about Kili's return to Rivendell during the events of the Hobbit and his reunion with Glorfindel. This is the chapter that contains hints of Erestor/Glorfindel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since this is an epilogue it doesn't actually have much to do with the actual fic itself, it's set during the events of the Hobbit when the dwarves are in Rivendell.

### Epilogue

Kili felt small bubble of excitement in his, small and over-taken by fear and adrenaline of the orcs chasing their company, excitement because they were running through the fields where he had found the secret entrance to Rivendell. Thorin and Gandalf had been arguing about going to Rivendell to ask the help of the elves and Thorin had reacted the way Kili had assumed he would, which made the young dwarf glad he had not told him where he had gone all those years ago.

A shout from Gandalf made them all run towards him and with a thrill of excitement Kili saw that they were heading towards said secret entrance. He hung back, shooting at the wargs and orcs until Thorin yelled his name, a one word order for him to get over to them now and hide. He did just that, sliding down the stone to the dusty bottom of the strange cave and resisting running to the end of the tunnel to see Rivendell again. Thorin was scowling when he joined them, he knew exactly what Gandalf was doing and he was not happy about it. Kili felt as though he was in a dream as they stumbled along the passageway and came out to the beautiful view of Rivendell and the nature around it. His breath caught in his throat as he peered around excitedly, but he managed to stay silent as they filed into the elven home and stood waiting for the elves to appear. An elf that Kili did not remember seeing before greeted them before a horn call was heard and Elrond himself round towards them, grinning at Gandalf and mentioning how they had just been out killing the orcs that had been chasing them just before. Kili felt nervous now, sure Elrond would greet him and welcome him back to Rivendell but he did not, merely greeted Thorin and made them an offer of food in elvish.

The first day spent there went pretty smoothly, none of the elves said anything to Kili, even Elrond or Glorfindel, who had walked past the room where the dwarves had been roasting meat nearer the night. He had winked at Kili and Kili was sure that Fili had seen the wink by the confused look his brother gave him. When the other members of the company went off to the guest rooms they had been given, with brothers staying together, only Thorin sleeping alone, Kili gestured to Fili.

"If it's alright I'd like to introduce you to someone." He requested. Fili had listened to many stories about what Kili had done in Rivendell and had noted how Glorfindel sounded funny and was probably a nice person, unlike how elves were portrayed by their uncle. He had also been extremely impressed when Kili had told him that Glorfindel had slain a Balrog. Fili nodded and followed Kili from their room and through the halls of Rivendell. Kili knew exactly where he was going, Elrond had put Kili and Fili in the room that Kili had had all those years ago and soon they were in the small garden where, Kili was glad to see, Glorfindel was sitting and singing.

"Who is this Kili?" Fili asked softly, not wanting to disturb the elf but Glorfindel heard anyway and turned around at the sound, smiling widely when he saw Kili, standing and heading towards them quickly, his arms open.

"Master Kili welcome back to Rivendell," He exclaimed, hugging Kili. Kili hugged him back, momentarily forgetting that there were eleven other dwarves who could have been watching.

"At your service." He said as a way of greeting and Glorfindel smiled before turning to Fili.

"You must be Master Fili I assume?" He inquired.

Fili nodded. "Fili, son of Dis, at your service." He said, bowing to Glorfindel.

"Glorfindel, at yours." He replied, much as he had to Kili, with a flourishing bow, mirroring the one he had performed for Kili at least thirty years before.

"I brought my brother to meet you Glorfindel, I think he'd like you." Kili explained as Glorfindel led them into the garden and settled on the grass, patting the ground next to him. Kili sat down straight away, Fili following suite a little slower.

"It's wonderful to finally meet you Fili, I heard a lot about you from your brother while he was here." Glorfindel admitted, offering Fili a winning smile which had Fili grinning despite himself. "I'm glad the cure worked, you wouldn't believe how frustrated Kili got while he was here trying to get it right. I've never seen someone work so hard and get so angry before." The blonde elf continued, stretching and stifling a yawn.

Kili blushed deeply and Fili laughed, eying Kili with a knowing look and reaching over to tousle his hair. Kili leaned out of his grasp and mumbled something about not being a child anymore but Fili ignored him, grabbed his arm and pulled his brother into a tight hug.

"So…how many stories do you have about my brother's antics in Rivendell?" Fili asked.

"I have a few." Glorfindel admitted with a laugh.

Kili ignored the stories that Glorfindel told Kili, lying down on the grass and looking up at the sky. He didn't remember falling asleep but soon Fili was shaking him to wake him up and the sky had darkened a bit more.

"Perhaps we should continue this another time, my fine dwarves so Kili can get to bed." Glorfindel laughed. "We should continue it tomorrow."

"I don't think we're going to be here for very long to be honest Glorfindel." Kili admitted, sounding somewhat sad, "I wish we were though, I feel so safe and relaxed here."

"Me too," Fili agreed, sounding a little surprised, "It's a nice feeling though."

"It is wonderful to see you again Kili and it's wonderful to meet you Fili and get to know you personally instead of just through stories from your brother." Glorfindel said, "But you should rest, especially if you aren't going to be here long. I'll always be here if you want to talk Kili, and you Fili." The elf continued, standing up as Fili did. Kili didn't really want to but he understood the importance of sleep and knew Thorin would want to know why they hadn't slept that night. He stood up as well and hugged Glorfindel again. Fili politely declined a hug from the elf who shrugged and laughed. "Go on, get to bed." He pushed and the two dwarves scurried off back to their room, Kili slightly disappointed that he hadn't gotten to talk to Glorfindel.

As the blonde dwarf watched them hurry away, giggling to each other he had a rather sad feeling come over him.

"What are you doing out here?" A voice asked and Glorfindel turned to find Erestor walking towards him.

"I was talking to Masters Kili and Fili." Glorfindel replied softly.

"I heard they had come here and wondered when you'd be talking to them." Erestor laughed. When he realised that Glorfindel was only smiling softly and not laughing Erestor's expression became concerned and he turned the blonde's face to look at him. "What's wrong?"

"I just have a feeling that I won't be seeing them again." Glorfindel murmured. Erestor folded his arms around Glorfindel and hugged him. The Balrog slayer hugged Erestor tightly and wondered what these feelings could mean. If Thorin took back Erebor it would not stop him from hating elves and Fili and Kili would be princes, they would not have a chance to visit Rivendell to see him…no it was not that sort of feeling. He felt that he was never going to see them again because they were not going to survive this journey. Glorfindel was vaguely aware that Erestor asked him why he had this feeling and he muttered something about not knowing why, but he just didn't think that he would ever see the sons of Dis again. Or Thorin Oakenshield. Erestor took his hand and led him from the garden with promises of a nice way to distract him from these thoughts.

Fili and Kili were not sad as they tumbled into their room and fell onto the bed, tangled up in a hug.

"I hope we can come back once we reclaim Erebor." Kili whispered softly as his eyes slowly slipped closed.

Fili smiled and nodded. "We definitely will, even if we have to lie to uncle."

"Mm."

With thoughts of returning to Rivendell on their minds the sons of Dis fell asleep, unaware that the reasons for the melancholy Glorfindel was feeling were going to be proven correct.


End file.
